Child of the Moon
by Adele FyreSkye
Summary: Albus Dumbledore once gave a werewolf the chance to study at Hogwarts, and as we all know, history is bound to repeat itself in time.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

King's Cross Station was a mass of people, sound, conversations, laughter, and occasional sobs, all rushing to some unknown destination. A flurry of people from all over the country filled the station, young and old alike. Yet in the middle of all this, one person stood out against the crowd. In the middle of this mass of humanity was a young girl, no more than eleven, all alone, no parent in tow, not even a parent to run after, just her pushing the very large and heavy trolley along the concourse.

Although she was obviously young, one look at her features told you that something was amiss with the girl. Dark and sunken circles surrounded her beautiful amber-coloured eyes, making her look worn and tired. Her tired face was framed by two locks of her brown blonde hair that had escaped her ponytail. Her jeans mirrored her expression - tired and worn. This Eyre of shabbiness was topped off by a faded baggy T-shirt that had also seen better days. To complete the mismatched picture she wore a faded black cloak, the bottom of which had long worn through, so now all that remained was a rough edge that had once been the hemline.

Not only did her clothing seem odd, but so did the constituents of her trolley. A large, oddly new-looking trunk that contrasted her worn look took up most of the room on the trolley. Sitting elegantly on top of it was a small, odd colored cat. It was mainly black, with several off white patches around its paws with a reddish brown colour streaking its fur here and there. It looked around with lazy curiosity with pale green eyes as it enjoyed its ride.

The girl had a different air than the cat about being in a station full of people. She kept her head down and avoided looking anyone in the eye. It seemed like she was trying to put walls around her to shield her from the gazes of the strangers. She quickened her pace, making her dishwater blonde hair wave behind her in its ponytail. She raised a hand and tucked a lock of hair behind each ear to keep them from whipping her face. She cast a glance up at the station numbers and saw she was coming close to station number nine.

She slowed down and stopped at the barrier between stations nine and ten. She remembered her father telling her about this once when she was little. All she had to do was walk through the barrier and she'd arrive at station nine and three quarters - the station the Hogwarts train left at. She scanned the people around with her light brown eyes. Thankfully, no one cared to notice her at the moment.

The girl took a deep breath. She remembered her father mentioning he always liked to go through at a run. Why not? She started pushing the trolley again, gaining speed. She aimed the trolley at the dead center of the barrier. As she came closer and closer to the wall she prayed to herself that she remembered correctly. At least her cat didn't seem to be fazed that its owner was pushing it towards the seemingly solid wall.

The girl squeezed her eyes shut just before the trolley made contact with the wall. She opened her eyes again when she noticed that she had, in fact, not hit the wall. She slowed down, looking at the sight in front of her. A long scarlet train baring the words 'Hogwarts Express' stretched along the station. A small smile played at her lips as she looked at the train.

"I'm actually going to Hogwarts," she whispered to herself. "I can't believe I'm actually going to Hogwarts."

She let the smile linger on her plain face for a few moments before she came crashing back down to earth.

The girl was early, as she had planned it that way, but there were a few families already here. As she watched a mother hug her child, the lone girl's smile faltered. She quickly busied herself by pushing her trolley to the last door on the train. She heaved her trunk up into the corridor, her cat giving her a disgruntled look at having to jump off the trunk.

"Now don't give me that look, Ash," the girl addressed her cat. "You knew you would have had to get off eventually."

The cat gave a soft meow, following his owner down the corridor as she looked in the compartments. The girl instinctively headed to the last compartment, but to her amazement, it was already occupied. There was a man in there placing a briefcase on the rack. The girl was taken by surprise; she hadn't known teachers also rode the Hogwarts Express to the school. The girl turned to find another compartment in order to avoid conversation, but the Professor spotted her before she had moved too far.

"You're welcome to have this compartment if you wish," he said with a smile. The girl noticed that he looked young, but had premature age lines on his face, and his brown hair had flecks of gray in it. He also looked very tired - as tired as she felt.

"N-no," the girl stuttered, "I-I'll just find another one."

The girl was thrown off; she hadn't expected to see someone else with her… 'condition' so soon.

"What's your name?" the man asked, obviously thinking the same thing she was.

"It's Amaris Klein," the girl answered sheepishly, "but I prefer Ris."

"Professor Dumbledore told me about you," the Professor nodded, acknowledging the information.

"He told me about you, too," Ris muttered.

"If you need help with anything, feel free to ask," the Professor offered in a friendly fashion.

"Thank you, Professor Lupin," Ris gave a small nod, "I appreciate it."

"Any time," he said, giving an encouraging smile as Ris turned to find another compartment.

Ris chose a compartment halfway down the corridor. She pulled her book out of her trunk and lifted her trunk into the overhead rack. Ash settled himself on one of the seats and curled up and Ris sat in a seat between her cat and the window. She opened the book to a marked page and started reading to pass the time. She was very tired but she had found that it was very hard for her to take naps, no matter how tired she was. Besides, the book was a very good fictional piece and she had enjoyed it so far. She slid down in her seat to make herself more comfortable and immediately was drawn from the real world into the fictional world of the book.

She had read several pages before she was interrupted by a light knock on the compartment door. Ris stood up and slid the door open, keeping her book in her hand to mark the page.

Sliding back the door revealed two girls, which appeared be around the same age as her. One was slightly taller than Ris and had brown hair tied back in a high ponytail. The other girl was shorter than Ris by about a head and a half. She had blonde hair that was slowly turning brown and was cut at chin length.

"Sorry, to bother you," the taller girl said, "but everywhere else is full. Do you mind?"

Ris hadn't planned on sharing a compartment; she didn't like being around people much, especially with recent events. However, she was much too polite to deny them.

"Of course not," Ris responded with a slight smile. She stepped back and sat back down in her seat. Ash opened a sleepy pale green eye to look at the intruders.

The two girls heaved their trunks onto the rack when they entered. Ris noticed that the taller girl placed an owl cage holding a tawny owl next to her trunk. The other girl sat a basket across from Ris and opened it. A fluffy white cat raised its head out, looked around, and quickly retreated back into the basket.

"Hail?" the girl said looking curiously at her cat. "What's wrong Hail?"

Ris felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach.

"She probably doesn't like Ash," Ris stated with a small smirk. She felt she had better give some sort of explanation so no suspicion might be aroused. "He is rather odd."

The girl looked over at Ash, who was now sitting up and staring at the basket containing the female cat.

"He has weird eyes," the girl stated, "but he's really pretty."

"Yeah," her friend agreed sitting next to her. "By the way, my name is Shannon Bollard." She nodded and smiled at Ris.

"And I'm Renée Smith, with an accent on the second 'e'," the shorter girl piped up and drew the accent in the air to emphasize her point.

"I'm Amaris Klein," Ris introduced herself to the other two, "but please just use Ris."

"I never knew all this stuff existed," Renée started talking excitedly on a sudden topic change. "I was amazed when I got the letter! It was like all my fantasies coming true, you know?"

"Renée's Muggle-born, in case you couldn't tell," Shannon said in a fake whisper.

"And I've known you all my life and you never breathed a word to me!" Renée attacked her friend.

"I have like three quarter blood or something like that, you know?" Shannon explained to Ris. "My dad is a Muggle-born wizard and my mom is a Pureblood. My dad thought it best if I received some Muggle education before I started Hogwarts because he felt that my brother and sister didn't know enough about the Muggle world before they went to Hogwarts. That's how I know Renée, anyway. Only bad thing was my mom didn't like my dad's idea, so I live with him during the week and with her during the weekend." Shannon looked slightly put out about this fact, but passed over it quickly. "My dad made me promise not to tell anyone about our world. I was really shocked when Renée told me she had gotten a Hogwarts letter."

"What about you?" Renée turned to Ris. "What blood do you have?"

Ris took a moment to respond, she hadn't expected the two girls to be this talkative, nonetheless actually include her in the conversation.

"I'm half," she responded after the question finally sunk in. "My dad was the wizard."

"Ooh," Renée squealed, "so you knew about all this stuff before your letter, like Shannon?"

Ris nodded slowly, not sure of the shorter girl's high excitement level.

"You have to excuse Renée," Shannon sighed, "usually I act the way she is, but she's so excited about all the magic stuff, and she had a cappuccino this morning. Trust me, she's not like this all the time."

"She's right," Renée nodded, agreeing with her friend. "I just can't believe all of this exists. I mean, there's wands and everything!"

She quickly pulled her wand out and held it like it was the most precious thing in the world.

"Eight inches, willow with dragon heartstring," she said fondly caressing her wand. "And Shannon has an eleven inch, oak with unicorn hair." Renée stated knowledgeably. "What do you have?"

"Ten and a half inch, rowan wood with phoenix feather," Ris answered.

"Brilliant!" Renée squealed. "Do either of you know any spells?"

"No, Renée," Shannon stated flatly as Ris shook her head. "I've told you, under-aged magic is illegal outside of Hogwarts."

"Aww…" Renée whined. She started to ask another question but was cut off by the sudden jerk of the train.

"Yay! We're moving!" Renée exclaimed.

"Let's go say goodbye to our parents," Shannon said motioning to the corridor.

"Okay," Renée nodded, getting up. Shannon started to open the door, but noticed that Ris hadn't made any movement to get up. In fact, she opened her book and started reading again. Confused, Shannon invited her to come with them, "Hey, you can come too, you know."

Ris glanced up at Shannon, and then looked back down at her book, "I already said my goodbyes. My mom had to leave early for work."

Shannon looked at Ris curiously. She could tell the girl wasn't being honest, but she decided to let her keep her secrets. For now.

Shannon stepped outside and slid the door halfway closed. Ris started to read again, but her feline distracted her. Ash had taken advantage of Renée's absence and jumped across to her seat to peer into the basket that contained Hail.

"Ash," Ris said in a warning tone, "the poor thing's already scared of me, she doesn't need you hitting on her." She reached over, picked Ash up and placed him on her lap. "You're some wonder," Ris sighed. "You're not even afraid of a werewolf."

The cat gave Ris a look that said, 'Why bother? You're no danger to me now.'

Ris smiled at her cat and stroked him as she continued reading. Ris realized after several pages that Shannon and Renée should have been back by then. She was just about to get up to investigate when they came bursting back into the compartment.

"That was really Harry Potter?" Renée was asking in a disbelieving tone.

"That was really Harry Potter!" Shannon exclaimed. "The one that brought the downfall of You-Know-Who! The famous Harry Potter! He had the scar and everything!"

"Harry Potter?" Ris asked, matching Renée's tone. She had heard that he was only two years older than her and went to Hogwarts, but she wasn't sure if she should have believed it.

"Yes, in the last compartment!" Shannon sounded as if she was catching a bit of what Renée had earlier.

"Oh," Ris said trying to suppress a smile. "So that's what took you so long to get back."

"Well, yeah," Shannon smiled. "You know, it's not every day you see someone famous. I'm excited, all right? Seeing Harry Potter on the first day is a good reason to be too."

Ris smirked and went back to her book, pretending not to have any interest.

"I wonder if we'll be in the same house as him," Shannon said dreamily.

"House?" Renée echoed. "What house?"

"Gryffindor," Shannon answered. "I heard that was Professor Dumbledore's house when he went to Hogwarts."

"Wait, hold up," Renée held up a hand, confusion on her face. "I know who Professor Dumbledore is, but what's Gryffindor?"

"Oh, right," Shannon said, hitting herself in the forehead. "Of course you wouldn't know about houses."

"Glad we finally got that covered," Renée said sarcastically.

"Sorry," Shannon mumbled before explaining the houses. "At Hogwarts there are four houses, I think that's what my family told me, anyway, and they're like a replacement family for you while you're there, or something. Somehow you're, like, tested into what house you belong in."

"What kind of test?" Renée asked breathlessly.

"They refused to tell me," Shannon huffed. "Said it should be 'a surprise'."

"Are your brother and sister still at Hogwarts?" Ris asked, unable to hold back her curiosity.

"Nah," Shannon responded, "they both graduated awhile ago. My sister is training to be a Healer at St. Mungo's and my brother's working as an employee at Flourish and Blotts, and he's the oldest. I do have a younger brother coming up in two years, unfortunately. Do you have any siblings at Hogwarts or graduated?" she asked Ris

"No, I'm an only child," Ris answered shortly. At least she didn't have to lie about that. She didn't like lying.

"Ah, only child, like the little spoiled brat sharing this compartment with us," Shannon said with a smile, but quickly added, "Not that I'm saying all only children are brats, just this one."

Renée had a disgruntled look on her face as Shannon slandered her. She just sighed and asked, "What are the names of all the houses?" Apparently she was used to this treatment.

"Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, I think," Shannon responded. "I don't know what I'll be in. My dad was in Gryffindor, and my mom was in Ravenclaw, and my mom's whole line has mixes of everything. Except Slytherin, thank goodness. Think I'd leave if I was put into there."

"Why?" Renée asked curiously.

"'Cause every witch and wizard that went through that house has turned out bad," Shannon answered easily.

"Well, I hope I don't end up in there either!" Renée announced.

"Well, not all of them are completely bad," Ris corrected, "and not all bad people are Slytherins. They just say that as a generalization." Ris now found herself looking at all possibilities of every generalization and not believing what 'they say'. After all, 'they say' she's a blood thirsty and dangerous creature. Little did 'they' know she's a vegetarian.

"That may be true, but ninety percent of them are," Shannon said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Thats true," Ris conceded.

"Well, I still don't want to be in that house," Renée said confidently.

"Any idea where you'll be put, Ris?" Shannon asked her politely.

"Well," Ris answered slowly, "my dad was in Ravenclaw, and I think a lot of my ancestors were too, and I think there were a few Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, but I'll probably get in Ravenclaw."

"I hear that's a good house," Shannon nodded, accepting Ris's answer.

"Well, they're all good," Ris said sincerely, "depending on your view point."

Shannon blinked at what Ris just said. "I never thought of it that way," she said slowly. "You have a point there."

"I always have a point," Ris said good-naturedly and returned to her book.

Shannon eyed Ris, a small smile playing on her lips. That girl was an interesting character. She thought she may just be worth getting to know. Shannon still had questions she wanted Ris to answer, but decided they could be answered later; she didn't want to interrupt her newfound friend's reading.

"Hey, Renée," Shannon turned to her short friend, "wanna play a wizard game? I can teach you how to play Gobstones. I have set in my trunk."

"Sure," Renée answered, eager to learn about wizarding past times.

Ris stared at a page in her book, not absorbing any of it. Thoughts plagued her mind. _Maybe being completely anti-social is a bad plan, maybe I can afford to not be and to make friends,_Ris thought to herself. _But if they get too close, they'd probably find out, and what then? How would they react? If I had them as friends and then lost them, I would go mad._ She massaged her forehead as she thought; she was too tired to think this much. She finally went back to her book with the decision that what will come will come and she'd just deal with it then, or perhaps after she had gotten some rest.

The time passed quickly as the train rattled on its track at a constant speed, taking Ris away from any sense of anything familiar, beginning a new chapter in her life. Ris had advanced several pages in her book and Renée was finally getting better at Gobstones. The game didn't seem to be Renée's forte, but the girl had a very large repertoire of words at her disposal. She kept taking explanations that Shannon gave her and putting it in terms that meant the same thing, but confused Shannon into thinking that she didn't understand.

One of their consecutive games was interrupted by a pair of boys suddenly barging into their compartment The pair was identical from their flaming red hair to every last freckle on their face.

"So sorry to intrude," one of the twins stated as they sat down on the floor with their backs to the door. "We just need to borrow the space for a moment."

"Our brother just found out we changed what his badge said," the other explained. "For some reason he got really angry about it. Don't see why, though, just a little joke. Nasty temper."

"Badge?" Renée questioned, eager to find out more.

"He's head boy," the first twin said with a disgusted look on his face. "Huge disappointment."

Ris smirked. She easily picked up the boy's sarcasm - obviously the twins did not respect figureheads. The door slid open behind the twin's backs causing them to fall backwards. Another red headed male stood in the doorway looking down at the two other boys with a very stern look on his face.

"Fred! George!" he exclaimed at the two. "What are you doing in here? Are you trying to corrupt the first years?"

"Of course not," one of the twins faked innocence. "We were just going to enjoy a game of Gobstones with these two lovely innocents."

"I'm sure," the older boy responded, not believing a word that they said. "Come on, these girls don't need your company."

"Oh, fine," said one of the twins haughtily, getting up. "Destroy our fun." The twins brushed past their brother and headed towards another compartment.

"I would appreciate it if you would please ignore the actions of my brothers," the Head Boy said sincerely to the three girls, "and do not judge their siblings by their actions." He closed the door to the compartment and the three girls sat staring at the door for a moment in silence.

"Well," Renée finally spoke, "that was interesting."

"That Head Boy is a real stiff," Shannon said in some disbelief.

"Well," Ris stated, "I don't think he'd be Head Boy if he had an affinity for breaking the rules."

"I guess so," Shannon sighed. "Well, let's continue our game, shall we?"

"Right," Renée nodded in concentration, "and I will beat you this time."

"You keep telling yourself that," Shannon replied with a smile.

As the train rattled on, Ris had read the same line over and over again without comprehending it. She was nervous. She used to always be close to home and never had to worry about anything, but now her world was flipped upside down and it scared her. So many things were different, there were so many new variables and it was hard for her to think positively about them. Ris was pulled out of her recess of thought by a plump witch stopping by their compartment. Shannon excitedly bought everything she knew she enjoyed while Renée inspected everything to the fullest extent before she bought it. Ris refused to buy anything, but Shannon and Renée made her eat some of the food they bought, coming close to opening her mouth and shoving the food down her throat.

Ris was snacking on a chocolate frog when she noticed the light outside was starting to dim at a sufficient rate. Rain started to hit the window and soon they rode into a full-fledged storm. Ris glanced at her watch. She was almost sure that it shouldn't be that dark out; they still had sometime before they should reach Hogwarts. Then she noticed that the train was slowing down. That most certainly shouldn't be happening.

"Ooh," Renée gasped in excitement, "are we there?"

"I guess we must be," Shannon said, starting to stand up.

"I think it's still too early to be there yet," Ris told them.

"Then why are we stopping?" Renée asked as the train jerked to a sudden stop, and the distant thud of luggage falling off racks reached Ris's ears.

Renée peered through the window curiously. Ris also looked outside from her seat. It was extremely dark outside, making it almost impossible to see anything. Although, it did look like there was someone moving outside.

"It looks like people are boarding the train," Renée said, also seeing the movement. "Does that usually happen?"

"I'll go check," Shannon volunteered, being closest to the door. She slid open the door and stepped out into the corridor. Ris noticed that other people were also looking around curiously. They looked older so she guessed this wasn't a regular occurrence. The lights flickered, and then turned themselves off, accompanied by a cold chill in the air. Renée squeaked in surprise. Ris heard several screams from other girls along the corridor. She also heard Shannon hurry back into the compartment and scramble to find her seat. Then the smell hit her.

Rotting flesh. The smell filled her sensitive nostrils. It was nauseating. She could also sense the fear emitting from the other two girls. She could almost smell it as strong as any other scent. That made her worry even more.

"What's going on?" Renée said tentatively from somewhere in front of Ris.

"Maybe one of us should go ask the conductor what's going on…" Shannon suggested tentatively.

"No," Ris rejected the suggestion a little too swiftly, "we should stay here. It's too dark to know where you're going. Besides, who knows what got on the train."

Ris was scared. That smell, the lights going out, the sudden chill in the air; they were all too coincidental. She'd heard of them before, but had never actually seen one, and she didn't have any desire to. They would know what she was and they didn't know the difference between innocent and guilty.

The compartment door slid open. Ris could see the outline of a tall hooded figure now standing in the doorway. She felt the effects of the dementor take hold of her. The smell was overpowering now. She was starting to feel very weak and dizzy.

"Who's there?" Shannon ventured the question.

The only response was a rattling breath. The cold in the compartment seemed to increase tenfold. Voices from Ris's memory started ringing through her head.

_Is Daddy all right? _Ris heard her voice ask, then her mother's face floated in Ris' sight, tears falling down her flushed cheeks, _Sweetheart, Daddy's gone, I'm sorry_Ris tried to hold back tears as well as hold onto her consciousness. Then her mother's voice rang through her head again, this time she looked very afraid, and angry. _Get out of my house! I won't have a murderous monster live here!_

Ris was feeling very weak at this point. These were very bad memories. Very bad. Reliving them herself for the past couple months was bad enough, she didn't know if she could handle being forced to relive them in such a life like way. She wasn't sure how long she could keep herself aware of everything around her. Then, suddenly, the memories vanished from her vision and ears, but Ris was still shivering and shaking, holding onto her chair so tight her knuckles were white. The dementor had left, apparently satisfied.

The lights came back to life and the chill lifted from the room. The smell was still haunting her nostrils, but at least the dementor left.

"What was that?" Renée asked in a small voice.

"A dementor," Shannon and Ris answered at once. Shannon looked back at Ris, noting that they spoke at the same time. Her face fell when she saw the other girl.

"You look awful," Shannon said to Ris worriedly.

"I'm fine," Ris muttered. She raised a shaky hand and wiped the cold sweat off her brow. "I'm fine," she repeated trying to sound a little more confident. Neither of the other two girls were satisfied by Ris's answer, but they decided that now was not the time to interrogate her. Ash licked Ris' hand and rubbed against her, trying to comfort his owner.

Renée opened her mouth to question about the dementor, but the train started moving again, startling her and paused her further questioning. The air of nervousness on the train started to lift slightly as they moved. Ris caught some laughter ringing through the corridor. She felt envy towards those laughing people. They could still laugh after being in close proximity with a dementor. Their lives were still normal. Renée opened her mouth again, planning on asking her question, but Professor Lupin appeared in their doorway before she could say anything. He seemed rushed and looked even more stressed than he did before.

"You three all right?" he asked quickly, accounting for the other girls in the car.

"I think so," Shannon answered tentatively.

"Here," the Professor took a chocolate bar out of his pocket, broke it into three pieces, and gave one to each of the girls. "It'll help. Now if you'll kindly excuse me, I must speak with the driver." He nodded to the girls and walked down the corridor.

"Who's he?" Renée asked after a moment's silence.

"Professor Lupin," Ris answered without thinking. "He's the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher."

The two looked at her questionly, wondering how she knew that. Ris noticed the looks and explained herself.

"I met him earlier," she said sheepishly before she started to nibble at the chocolate Professor Lupin had given her. Warmth quickly rushed over her as she ate the chocolate.

"Wonder what he's doing on the train," Shannon said. "I didn't think Professors took the train."

"What's a dementor?" Renée pounced on the opportunity to ask the question she had been waiting to ask.

"They guard the prison of Azkaban," Shannon answered with an air of nervousness.

"They're horrible," Renée stated, even though she had only had a short encounter with them. "They seemed to just...suck the joy right out of...everything."

"I know," Shannon nodded slowly. "I kinda feel sorry for the people in Azkaban. Having to be around those things all the time, you know? They say they make you go crazy after awhile. But I guess some people deserve it, like that Black fellow. Have you heard about him, Ris? I was told he escaped. Kinda scary, you know?"

Ris nodded in agreement. She had heard about Black, The Daily Prophet said that he killed thirteen people with one curse, including a wizard.

"Who's Black?" Renée questioned.

"A madman," Shannon answered simply. "Killed lots of people. They say he was in You-Know-Who's inner circle. Think we'll be safe at Hogwarts?"

"You-Know-Who was afraid of Dumbledore," Ris shared her view, "I doubt his lesser-powerful servant would try anything. It's safe for anyone and everyone at Hogwarts."

"I suppose," Shannon said thoughtfully. Ris looked down at her watch again and noticed that they shouldn't be that far away from Hogwarts.

"We should probably change into our robes," she suggested. "We should be arriving soon."

"Alright," Shannon nodded, standing up to get her robes.

Ris stood up to get hers as well. A small smile started playing on her lips again. She had been scared to start school here; so many worries plagued her mind. For the first time since Dumbledore had contacted her, she felt this might have been the right choice. She was going to school, she made two friends, and if she played it right, they may never need to know her secret. For the first time in a year, Ris felt truly happy.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

The train jerked to its second stop shortly after Ris, Shannon, and Renée had finished changing into their robes.

"Are we stopping for real this time?" Renée asked with a mix of sarcasm and seriousness.

"We should be," Ris replied as she brushed her brand new robes. Being in brand new clothes was a stark difference to what she was wearing before. She was glad she was able to be wearing Hogwarts' robes at all, nonetheless brand new ones, under the circumstances.

"Well, everyone else is getting off," Shannon said motioning to the corridor.

"What should we do with our stuff?" Renée asked curiously.

"I'm pretty sure we just leave it on the train," Shannon answered. "No one else has their stuff anyway."

"Stay with the stuff Ash," Ris quietly commanded her cat, giving him a pat on the head as she stood up from her seat. She marked her book and slipped it into her trunk. She turned to the other two girls to see if they were ready to go yet. Shannon was standing by the open compartment door waiting for Renée to be ready.

"Come on, Renée," Shannon said impatiently.

"Just a second," Renée pouted. "I have to say good-bye to Hail."

"We're going to be the last ones out there at this rate," Shannon pressed her friend to move faster.

"Okay, I'm ready," Renée said, slightly annoyed, as she rose from the basket that held her feline.

"Great, let's go," Shannon said with a smile. "I'm hungry."

"They feed us?" Renée asked excitedly as they exited the compartment.

"No, Renée," Shannon said with heavy sarcasm, "they let us starve unless we can find our own food, 'cause its not like we're living in the place."

"What?" Renée gasped in horror, then paused. "Wait. I hate you." She said unconvincingly and playfully hit Shannon.

"You make it much too easy," Shannon smiled.

They hurried outside, and found themselves in the equivalence of a monsoon. Ris hugged herself like many other people around her were doing in the attempt to keep warm.

"Where do we go now?" Renée asked over the pounding of the rain, somehow still able to keep her look of excitement in the cold and wet.

"I don't know," Shannon said slowly looking around.

The question was soon answered as a loud booming voice called the words 'first years' over the rain. Ris traced the calls to a very large man holding a lantern. The man was easily twice as tall as anyone around him, and twice as wide. His mane of tangled hair collected the rainwater nicely, as did his moleskin coat.

"We go over there," Ris pointed out the giant-like man to her two friends.

"How do you know?" Shannon questioned Ris.

"He's calling 'First years over here'," Ris answered feeling her cheeks get slightly pink.

"I must not have heard him," Shannon shrugged and started pushing through the crowd towards the man.

They shoved their way over to the large man and joined the group of other first years that were gathering around him. He led them to the shore of the lake once he believed all the first years were around him. On the shore were small rowboats waiting to be filled.

"Now, git in the boats," the man motioned towards the boats. "An' no more than four to boat, okay? Or else they'll flip."

"We're going across the lake in this weather?" someone dared to complain, loud enough for the man to hear. Ris personally thought the person was either stupid or brave since the man looked like he could rip apart any of them easily. Though, the boy did have a point. She wasn't so sure if she trusted the small wooden boats to carry them across the lake in the heavy rain.

"O' course ya are," the man grunted. "Wouldn't have it any other way. Now git in 'em." The giant like man shooed them into the boats, seeing that many of the students were very reluctant to do so. Ris, Shannon, and Renée quickly climbed into the boat nearest to them. Shannon and Renée sat on one side and Ris sat opposite of Shannon.

"How are we gonna get across if we don't have oars?" Renée asked, looking around curiously. Ris also joined in her search to see that she was in fact correct - there were no oars to row the boat with. An extra pair of feet entering the boat distracted Ris from coming up with any possible solution to their dilemma.

"Just who said you could get in our boat?" Shannon demanded of the intruder. Ris looked next to her and saw that the accused was a boy. He was rather tall and had dark black hair.

"I'm sorry to intrude," the boy said politely, "but my four other friends seemed to think I should be the one to go to another boat, and quite honestly, I believed the boat that you three lovely ladies were sitting in was the best choice."

"I'm sure there are other boats," Shannon said as all three girls started looking around them while the boy sat patiently waiting for his point to be proven. Ris noted several boats with available seats through the heavy rain, but most of them held frighteningly large students in them. Ris concluded that she wouldn't want to sit in any other of the boats either, so decided not to hold much against the boy. Unfortunately, Shannon seemed not be convinced as easily.

"You could go and sit with the big man," she suggested nodding her head towards the man that had led them here, who was sitting in a boat by himself.

"I'm pretty sure he counts as four people," the boy stated evenly.

"Probably," Shannon shrugged, deciding the boy was all right. Ris noticed that Shannon was holding back a smile and was carefully looking the boy over with her blue eyes.

"Everyone seated?" the giant sized man called through the thunderous sound of the rain. "Right then. Forward!"

Renée squeaked as the boat started to move on its own. Ris heard other sounds of surprise from the other boats around them. She peered over the edge of the boat to see the inky blackness of the lake that was constantly rippling because of the rain. She looked back forward, hoping to be able to see the castle of Hogwarts. Glimmers of light were starting to shine through the night and bad weather as they moved steadily forward. Ragged edges started to appear out of the darkness, slowly starting to form the outline of a massive edifice. The multitudes of windows were all alight with a yellow glow from the lowest up to the high turrets.

"Brilliant," Renée whispered as the massive castle became sharper in the haze of the rain. Ris heard similar words of awe from all of the boats around them.

The small rowboats took them into a cove where they stopped their steady movement. All of the students slowly got out of their boats, all of them looking around in awe. They followed the laid out path behind their giant guide. The stone passageway led to a grassy courtyard, from there they all rushed up a flight of stone steps to a pair of great oak doors, all hoping to get inside and get warm.

"Everyone here?" the man asked the group of shivering children. Seeing some small nods, he raised a gigantic fist and knocked on the door. The doors swung open as soon as his fist left the door. The students almost fell inside with their enthusiasm to get inside. The first thing most of the students noticed upon entering was the massive size of the room they entered. Many of the students didn't even notice the miniature man with frizzled white hair until the giant man addressed him.

"Here are the firs' years, Professor Flitwick," the man smiled. "A lil' wet, but here."

"Yes, thank you very much, Hagrid," the wizard responded in a squeaking voice and turned to the group of student before him. "If you would follow me please."

He magicked the doors behind him to open, leading them to the Entrance Hall. The hall itself was big enough to hold a flat or two comfortably. Its ceiling was covered in shadow it reached so high, and the stonewalls held torches to light their path. A staircase lay in front of them that wound to the upper stories of the school.

The group followed the Professor until the murmur of voices started becoming very distinct. Ris pinpointed the sound to be coming from their right. She assumed that the rest of the school was there, waiting for them to be sorted. The group was shown into an empty corridor, the students huddling close to each other in hopes of getting a little warmer, their faces showing mixed emotions of excitement and nerves.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," the Professor gave his squeaky greeting with a large smile. Ris searched for a moment until she saw the Professor standing on a stool next to the door. "The start-of-term banquet will soon begin in the Great Hall, but before you take a seat you must be sorted into a house. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because while you are here, your house will be like your family. You will have classes with your house, share a dormitory, and have free time in the house common room.

"The houses are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. Each has a very noble history and great witches and wizard have emerged from all of them. While you are at Hogwarts, teachers can reward you with house points for positive behavior, while negative behavior can result in a teacher deducting house points. At the end of the year, the points are tallied and the house with the most points receives the house cup, a very great honor for any house. I hope that each of you will help your house achieve this honor.

"The Sorting Ceremony shall take place in a few minutes time in front of the entire school. I suggest that you prepare yourselves in whatever ways you wish too. I shall return when we are ready for the ceremony. Please wait quietly."

Professor Flitwick turned and left them in the chamber. Chatter broke out among the student as soon as he disappeared from view.

"This place is so gorgeous," Renée said to the other two, still taken in awe. "It'll be brilliant to go to school here."

Shannon just nodded; Ris noticed that she looked very nervous. Ris felt nervous herself, and upon looking around the room, everyone else seemed anxious as well. Apparently, Renée was still too in shock from the building to start thinking about the Sorting that lie before them.

The patter of shoes came to Ris' ears as she stood patiently waiting. Professor Flitwick appeared in the doorway and any talking that was going on soon stopped.

"Please, form a line," the Professor ordered them, "and follow me."

The students quickly organized into a queue, Ris, Shannon, and Renée standing next to each other. Ris noticed that the boy that had ridden in their boat was standing next to her, his friends behind him. He smiled lightly, seeing that she was looking back. Ris blink in surprised, but was saved any conversation by the line starting to move.

She followed Renée back across the hallway and in front of the large double doors. Ris could hear the sound of many voices carrying from inside the hall, but when the doors opened, they stopped abruptly.

The line continued moving into the hall. Ris was rendered breathless by the room. Thousands of candles lit the massive hall by being suspended in the air above four long tables that held the other students. On the other end of the hall was another long table that held the teachers. Her father had told her about the Great Hall, but she felt words just could not do it justice.

The line moved until all of the shivering first years were all facing the other soaked students. In order to avoid making accidental eye contact with anyone, Ris looked up. The ceiling mirrored what she remembered the outside to look like a few minutes ago - dark and pouring rain. The only thing that proved that the ceiling was even there was the fact that the rain only fell so far before it disappeared into thin air.

The sound of wood scraping tile tore Ris away from gazing the ceiling. Professor Flitwick had placed a stool in front of the line the first years had formed. On the stool sat an old, dirty, and very tattered hat. Ris wondered what on earth they were expected to do with a worn hat.

The hat twitched, and then a rip near the brim of the hat opened wide, all on its own, forming a mouth. Her amber eyes widened in surprise. She became even more surprised as the hat started to sing.

_Long ago, four young talents joined._

_They had an idea of sorts,_

_To have a school for young, just like them,_

_To teach them magic in all it's parts._

_So they made the school in all its glory,_

_But when the time came to teach_

_They noticed the children all had abilities,_

_Much like the ones they held in their reach._

_So they decided to divide the students,_

_Into four houses, as they called them,_

_So the students could always find_

_An easy friend within their den._

_Shall you go with Gryffindor?_

_Those that are brave and daring,_

_The ones who care for chivalry,_

_Shall find Gryffindor their paring._

_Or perhaps, loyal Hufflepuff,_

_Those of gentle and caring heart,_

_The ones that are willing to work the hardest_

_In Hufflepuff will play their part._

_Yet perhaps you will prefer Ravenclaw,_

_Where the quick-witted dwell,_

_Those that prize intellect above all,_

_In Ravenclaw will learn how to cast their spells._

_Then there are those that go to Slytherin,_

_The ones that do anything to reach the end,_

_The cunning and ambitious,_

_No Slytherin knees shall ever bend._

_So come up to me without fear!_

_I shall find your place, without fail,_

_Among these glorious houses of old,_

_So you may take a seat in this hall! _

The whole hall rang with applause when the hat finished its song. Ris joined in too after taking a moment to let what the hat sang to sink in. Ris heard Professor Flitwick clear his throat as he unrolled a long piece of parchment.

"So all we do is try on a hat?" Renée wondered aloud, not noticing the small Professor.

"I guess so," Shannon answered, sounding slightly annoyed, "and my brother made me think all sorts of horrible things were going to happen."

The applause slowly died down as the students noticed Professor Flitwick was ready to speak. He waited until he was sure that he had most everyone's attention before he started to speak.

"When I call your name," he addressed the first years, "please come forward, sit, put on the hat, and be sorted." The first years waited apprehensively for him to start reading the list.

"Able, Zachary," the Professor said in his squeaky voice.

A boy with dark blond hair stumbled out of the line and headed towards the stool. He placed it on his head and, after a few moments, the hat shouted "SLYTHERIN!" The boy quickly took off the hat and went to the second table on the right, which had exploded with applause.

"Arden, Nicole!" A girl walked up to the hat and stool timidly. She sat for hardly a second when the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" She smiled and quickly went and joined the table on the far right.

"Bollard, Shannon," the Professor continued down the list.

Shannon went pale, and after cursing her last name, went to the stool. She picked up the hat and let it slide over her eyes. She sat there, gripping the edge of the stool, for the longest of anyone yet.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted. Shannon took off the hat and hurried toward the table with the most applause, the second table from left. Ris noticed some of the upperclassmen getting up to shake Shannon's hand.

"Boot, Teresa!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The little girl went to the same table that Shannon went too, though someone at the table greeted her very warmly.

"Cameron, Miranda!" became the first Gryffindor, joining the table at the far left. "Buehring, Timothy" became the second Slytherin. This time Ris took a moment to look at the people at that table. Though she was sure it was the power of suggestion, she thought she wouldn't be very happy in the Slytherin house just by the looks of most of them.

Professor Flitwick continued to read off names and the tables continued to explode with applause when the Shorting Hat shouted the name of their house. Ris kept getting continually queasy as the names were called off one by one.

"Durning, Alexander!"

The boy standing next to Ris stepped forward and went to the stool and placed the hat on his head. The hat didn't think too long on him and shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" He got up with a smile and went to sit with Shannon and the other new Ravenclaws.

Ris' imagination started to get carried away with her. She started to wonder if, when she put the Sorting Hat on, it would put her in Slytherin, simply because she was a 'dark creature', or, what if it would shout: "Get out of here, Werewolf, you don't belong here!" She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push the images of the whole hall of students and teachers chasing her out of the castle and into the forest out of her head.

"Hoffman, Daniel!" the little Professor squeaked.

_That's the end of the H's, and that means they're closer to the K's, _Ris thought to herself. _I really need to get this daydreaming thing under control._

"James, Joshua!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Jones, Nathaniel!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

_Oh, no, they're at the end of the J's, _Ris thought nervously, her previous daydream haunting her thoughts. _Oh, please, don't let me be next, _Ris thought urgently.

"Klein, Amaris!" the Professor read the next name on the list.

_No, that's not supposed to be next, _Ris thought hopelessly as she stepped out of the line and approached the stool. She reached out a shaky hand and picked up the hat. She sat down on the stool and slowly let the hat slide over her head and over her eyes, blackening her vision.

"Ahh," Ris jumped as the small voice spoke in her ear, "it has been a while since one as young as you has been bitten and was brave enough to come here. That being said, you have great courage, and even greater because you are willing to make friends and stay loyal to them, even if they end up hating you. Yet, one thing sets you apart from the others. You look at a problem from every possible angle before you take action, therefore, you are definitely a…

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted for the whole hall to hear.

Ris tore off the hat, grinning broadly. She rushed over to the Ravenclaw table, and saw Shannon motioning for her to sit in the seat opposite of her. Ris gladly obliged to her request. Shannon was beaming and clapping for her, which only made Ris smile more. She absentmindedly shook the hands of the upperclassmen that welcomed her to their house. She glanced to see who was on either side of her as she sat down and saw that Alex was sitting to her right. Ris cast a glance at Shannon, knowing that she had something to do with this, especially since Ris could now see that there was an empty seat next to Shannon.

"I wanted to save two seats in case Renée made it into Ravenclaw," Shannon whispered. "I told him," she cocked her head towards Alex, "that he could move if one of the seats were available, if he really wanted to, after the Sorting."

Ris just nodded, not quiet comprehending all of what Shannon said because, at the moment, her adrenaline was still running very high. She turned her attention back to the sorting, trying to calm down a bit. The full moon wasn't all that long ago and the wolf hadn't quiet subsided yet.

"I'm Alex, by the way," the boy stated, with a slightly annoyed glance at Shannon, as she had been keeping him from saying anything for himself.

"Ris," she nodded sheepishly and turned her attention once again back to the Sorting.

"Mohr, Kathleen" had just become Slytherin and "Myers, Casey" was approaching the stool.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Ris' eyes traveled down the line of remaining first years. Her eyes fell on Renée's pale face. She was wringing her hands as she nervously waited for her name to be called. Renée looked to either side at the taller children in line around her with her hazel eyes.

"I don't get that girl," Shannon whispered shaking her head. Ris looked over at Shannon, questioning her.

"I mean, she's been in more nerve-racking situations than this," Shannon explained. "She's played the lead in some musicals back home before. I personally think that would be more nerve racking than trying on a hat."

"She must have some talent," Ris stated.

"Just a little," Shannon said has she held her hands about two feet apart. Ris smirked at Shannon's sarcasm as Andrew Patterson joined their table.

"Phillips, Arthur!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Robb, Alicia!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Rosenberry, Jeremiah!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Ross, Dawn!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Ris noticed that Renée was looking very pale now. Ris wondered if Renée had any crazy, imaginative ideas running through her head as Ris did just before she got sorted. Of course, now Ris knew that there was no need for anyone to think like that, because if she could get sorted, then anyone asked by Dumbledore to attend his school could be.

"Smith, Renée!"

Renée stepped out of the line and tried to keep as much composure as she could as she approached the stool. She picked up the tattered hat and placed it onto her head. The hat fell to cover all over her face and she sat and waited for the hat to make a choice.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Yes!" Shannon shouted as the rest of the hall applauded.

Renée hurried to sit next to Shannon after gently placing the Sorting hat back onto its stool.

"Congratulations," Shannon stated formerly and extended her hand.

"Oh, why, thank you," Renée responded taking Shannon's hand and shaking it. "It's a pleasure to be in the same house as you."

"Of course it is," Shannon stated evenly, "any house without me would be boring."

"No kidding, with your talk," Renée smirked.

"My point," Shannon smiled.

"Your _talk?_" an upper classman sitting next to Shannon asked. "You speaking of the talk I think you are?"

"Probably," Shannon responded with a slightly confused look.

"Ah, wonderful," the girl smiled, "then I should introduce myself. Kathleen Hershey at your service, Resident Second Year Ravenclaw Mild Trouble-Maker. Of course, if you call me Kathleen I will have to hurt you, so stick with Kat."

"That's quite the title," Shannon responded.

"Made it up myself," Kat said proudly.

"And earned it," another upper classman said, "it's going to be difficult to keep her under control. I just had to be made prefect."

"Why, you flatter me Faith," Kat addressed the fifth year.

"Prefect?" Renée asked.

"I'm in charge of keeping you all out of trouble," she stated, "and with that in mind, I tell you to return your attention to the Sorting."

"Of course, Faith," Kat said with sarcasm playing on her voice, "anything you say."

"And you be quiet, it's the only way you will stay out of trouble," Faith sighed.

Ris smiled to herself as she turned back to the Sorting. She could all ready tell that this year was going to be a very interesting one. 'Williams, Alexis' had just joined their table when Ris' concentration had finally centered on what was happening at the front of the room.

"Wright, Lindsey!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

They soon ended with "Zurcher, Brian", who joined the Gryffindor table. Professor Flitwick rolled up the scroll that held their names on it and carried the stool and the Sorting Hat out of the hall.

Ris turned around to the back of the hall, startled by the sound of a door opening and closing. A girl and boy crossed the back of the hall to the Gryffindor table and a stern looking teacher made her way up to the staff table.

"Hey," Kat started, pointing at the boy, "isn't that Harry Potter? I heard he fainted on the train when the… dementors, were searching."

"Harry Potter fainted?" Shannon asked.

"Isn't he 'The Boy who Lived'?" Renée questioned.

"Yes, he is," Shannon answered, "and I don't think he'd be likely to faint just 'cause a dementor entered his compartment."

"Just what I heard," Kat said defensively.

Ris turned her attention from Shannon's continuing argument to the staff table. A wizened wizard had stood up, his brilliant silver beard almost falling to the floor. His blue eyes twinkled from behind his half moon spectacles as he scanned the hall.

"Shush," Ris quieted her stubborn friend, "Professor Dumbledore is going to speak."

Shannon looked at Ris in confusion for a moment before turning to the staff table. Ris anxiously waited for Professor Dumbledore to start speaking. Even though she was a first year, Ris probably had more respect for Professor Dumbledore than most of the other students in the hall. After all, he was willing to give her a chance and had helped her out more than she would ever be able to thank him for. She was eager to hear what Professor Dumbledore had to say to the large group of students, for she knew whatever it was, it was bound to be important.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore started his speech. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast…"

He cleared his throat before continuing, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

Ris shivered when he mentioned this. She didn't like dementors, or the Ministry of Magic, so hearing them both in the same sentence gave rise to negative feelings. Fortunately, Dumbledore had paused at that point so she didn't miss any of his speech due to her wandering mind.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore resumed, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody leaves the school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises – or even Invisibility Cloaks. It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors."

Professor Dumbledore pause his speech again for a moment, scanning the hall with a very serious look on his face. Not one person dared to make a move or sound.

"On a happier note," he took the speech to a different tangent, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year.

"First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Ris joined the scattered applause for the shabby teacher. She wished the students would show more acceptance to the new Professor and not judge him by the fact that he obviously had little money. She was glad to see that at least Shannon and Renée were clapping.

"Check Snape," Kat pointed out playfully to Faith. Faith glanced down to a Professor with greasy black hair and a rather large nose who was shooting a loathing look at Professor Lupin. Faith tried to refrain from laughing when she saw him.

"Serves him right," she said, "he deserves to stay down in those dungeons."

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore resumed his speech after the scattered applause dissipated. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs." The three girls cast each other worried glances at this statement. "However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his game-keeping duties."

Ris politely joined the applause, which was greater than the applause that Professor Lupin received. Ris recognized the new teacher as being the giant-like man that had led them across the lake.

"Well, I think that's everything of importance," Dumbledore prepared to finish his speech. "Let the feast begin!"

The golden plates and goblets that were empty a moment before suddenly filled with delicious looking food.

"Oh, wow!" Renée exclaimed when the food magically appeared. "That's amazing! How do they do that?"

"Who cares?" Shannon dismissed the question as she reached for the bowl closest to her. "I'm starving."

Ris dished herself some potatoes and various other vegetables and fruit on the table. She was famished since she had just gone through a transformation and she had had little to eat for a very long time. In fact, she was positive there had never been this much food offered to her at one time.

"To answer your question, Renée," Faith spoke up, "this is the work of the House Elves."

"House Elves?" Renée questioned.

"Little people, creatures, things," Kat answered between bites. "I've seen them, with help from the Resident Fifth Year Ravenclaw Mild Trouble-Maker. I gave him that title."

"Someone call me?" a male with a strange likeness to Faith asked, hearing his title.

"Kat's just talking bad about you again," Faith stated in a bored tone.

"Does she ever stop?" he asked mischievously.

"This is my brother, Ray," Faith said unenthusiastically.

"Hello," he nodded, "and welcome to the proud old house of Ravenclaw. We don't have many people willing to be trouble-makers, so me and Kat are kind of out numbered."

"I am still of the belief that the only reason why I have this badge is to keep you two under control," Faith sighed.

"Why else would anyone sane appoint you as prefect?" Ray teased his sister.

"What were you two talking about earlier?" Renée continued her bombardment of questions as she spooned some food on her plate. "About, who was it... Snape?"

"Oh, that," Kat smirked.

"Professor Snape is the Potions Master at Hogwarts," Faith answered, "but everyone knows that he wants the Dark Arts position. Just kind of funny that he didn't get it again and has to stay down in his cold little dungeon. Trust me, you'll find out when you have Potions."

Ris continued to listen to the questions and general conversation that was happening around her without contributing much to them. The only time she really spoke was when she explained to her new friends that she was a vegetarian.

"Is it because of the whole animal thing?" Kat asked. "Or do you just not like it?"

"A little bit of both, I guess," Ris answered.

"Sorry," Kat said, realizing that Ris seemed slightly uncomfortable, "I've just never met anyone who's a vegetarian before."

"It's all right," Ris smiled at the second year.

After everyone had finished the superb main course, the leftovers disappeared just like they had appeared at the beginning of the feast. Desserts soon took the spot of the main course and everyone helped themselves to at least seconds of those on top of their large meal.

"I think I'm going to like this place," Renée stated as she helped herself to a pumpkin tart. "They treat us so well."

"Just wait until the classes," Kat warned.

"At least the food's good," Shannon said, "and the place looks and feels comfortable. It's better than a lot of Muggle boarding schools I've heard about."

"Very true," Faith said, "I've heard from my father that the one he went to was dreadful. Some name like Smeltings, I think."

"And Hogwarts is also a lot more fun to explore," Ray added. "No way could a Muggle school compare to the secret passages in Hogwarts."

The remains of dessert disappeared from their plates as they talked. When Faith noticed the absence of the food she mumbled something under her breath.

"Wait, what was that?" Ray teased his twin. "Were you just cursing your position? Why, I do believe I will have to report that to Amadeus."

"No, Ray, please, no," Faith whispered trying to pull her brother back down to a sitting position.

"Hey, Deus!" Ray call to another fifth year. "My sister believes that it's a curse upon her life to have to work with you!"

The boy that Ray called to sauntered over to them with a smile on his face. Ris didn't quite see why Faith wouldn't like to work with him, he looked fine to her.

"Does she, now?" Deus said with a slight laugh, then he saw the first years next to them and changed his tone. "You weren't letting these two corrupt the first years were you, Faith?" he demanded of the other prefect.

"Of course not, Deus," Faith muttered.

"First Years this way!" Deus called to the newcomers to their house.

The other first years complied to the beckon of the older classman amongst the movement of the rest of the hall. Deus, Faith, and the other prefects lead the first years out the west exit of the Great Hall.

"Deus isn't really that bad," Kat told the three girls. "He just really likes to be on top, already top of his class, so he tried to get people in trouble before he was made a prefect. Worked, I guess. He can be worse than Penelope Clearwater, though, which is kind of weird since she's Head Girl. Just guess who's going to be Head Boy in two years."

The mass of Ravenclaw students climbed their way up multiple flights of stairs, occasionally receiving a warning from an older student about a trick stair. Ris made sure to pay attention to her surroundings so she wouldn't get lost the following day. The crowd finally stopped near the top of the tower. In front of them was a statue of ivory that was carved into the shape of a unicorn. The figure was so realistic, Ris thought for a moment that it was a real unicorn. Its sapphire eyes gleamed unnaturally in the candlelight as a female seventh year approached it.

"Peregrine," she stated clearly.

The unicorn responded to the word immediately. It reared and landed with a thud onto its platform. The whole base moved to the side, reveling a short staircase. The mass of people rushed forward to climb it into the Ravenclaw common room.

"Oh, brilliant," Renée squealed after the entrance had been revealed.

"Make sure you remember that password," Kat told them. "Ivory only moves when you say the password. Oh, and she was just putting on a show, she usually only just lifts a hoof rather than the whole rearing thing."

"She's still the most beautiful statue I've ever seen," Renée breathed.

They climbed the short flight of stairs and entered the spacious Ravenclaw common room. Several different couches and chairs, all blue in color, furnished the room. At the opposite end of the room was a burning fireplace in the middle of the wall and on either side there were massive windows showing that it was still dark and rainy outside. The bronze and blue walls were adorned with portraits of various famous Ravenclaws or of people studying tediously. Above the fireplace hung a picture of a graceful young woman. The plaque below the picture identified the young woman as Rowena Ravenclaw. The room was lit by the candle lanterns along the wall, giving the room a warm glow, finishing off the mood for the perfect study place.

"Oh, brilliant," Renée repeated herself as she looked around the room.

"Boys dormitories are up the stairs on the right," the girl that Kat had identified as Penelope Clearwater told the first years, "the second is yours. Girls, the same, only to your left. Sleep well."

The first years hustled over to their appointed staircases. Ris followed the small group of First Year girls to their room after Kat and Faith bid the three girls good night. Shannon was the first to reach the door, so she held it open it for everyone. They entered the room and Renée repeated herself yet again. The room had a very cozy feel and they each had a four-poster bed with blue velvet hangings. Ris saw that Ash and her trunk had been moved up there by some means, and that her cat had also taken the initiative to claim Ris' bed for her. Ris was satisfied with Ash's choice. He had chosen the bed on the left on the same wall as the door and closest to the window.

"Looks like Ash chose your bed for you," Shannon said, also noticing the pale-eyed cat.

"I guess so," Ris smiled and sat down on the bed.

"I'll take this one!" Renée exclaimed enthusiastically and climbed onto the bed across from Ris. "I love being able to look outside at the scenery."

"It's a really good inspiration," Ris stated as Shannon took the bed next to Renée. The other two girls took the beds that mirrored Ris' and Renée's.

"I don't think we were ever properly introduced," Renée said to the other two girls. "My name is Renée Smith."

"I'm Theresa Boot," the girl with short black curly hair replied.

"Shannon Bollard," Shannon introduced herself.

"Lexi Williams," the other said. She had long dark red hair that was streaked here and there with blonde.

"Ris Klein," Ris smiled at the other two girls.

"I'm so excited, I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep," Renée said excitedly.

"I know, but my brother said that we get trouble if we're out past curfew," Theresa shared her knowledge.

"You have a brother here?" Shannon asked.

"Yeah, Terry; he's a third year," Theresa said.

"So, you knew about this too?" Renée asked.

"Yeah," she nodded in response.

"What about you?" Renée turned to Lexi.

"I'm half, so yes," she answered.

"I'm the only Muggle-born?" Renée asked disappointedly with a vigorous nod in response from Shannon.

"Yes, Renée," Shannon said sarcastically, "it's all a conspiracy against you."

"I knew it," Renée muttered, stifling a yawn. "Maybe I'm more tired then I thought I was. Let's go to sleep."

"That's agreeable," Shannon replied as they started to change into their nightclothes.

When Ris was finished getting ready for bed, she closed the curtains around her bed and sighed heavily as she laid down in the comfortable bed. She couldn't help but count her blessings again. She was in Hogwarts, had two good friends, had a full stomach, was lying on a comfortable bed, and she found that she could smile fully and meaningfully. She scratched her cat behind his ears has he purred from his spot next to her pillow.

"Hey, Ash," she whispered, more to herself than to him, "I finally found a home."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III

Ash woke Ris up earlier than she would have liked the following morning, but it proved to be to her advantage; she had the bathroom to herself and was done early enough that she didn't have to share with anyone else. After she was done, she made sure everyone was awake so they weren't late for the first day of classes. Ris decided to grab her book and wait for Shannon and Renée in the common room. She didn't feel up to listening to the other girls argue about who got what shower and hear them fuss over other little things.

When she entered the common room, it was pleasantly quiet and she took a seat in one of the over stuffed armchairs in one of the corners. She opened her book to where she left off and started reading. Ash found his way downstairs; obviously he was also trying to get away from the fussy girls in the room. He jumped onto Ris' lap and took a position that made it look as if he was reading the book with her. Ris smiled at her cat and shook her head.

"You are one odd kitty," she said to the cat and he just looked at her with a look that said 'I know' quite clearly.

"Morning, Ris," came a newly familiar voice.

"Morning, Shannon," Ris replied as she turned to look at the speaker.

"You had the right idea to come down here," she said finding a seat next to Ris. "They are much too fussy to stay around too long."

"I have good ideas occasionally," Ris said with a slight smile. They sat for a moment in silence when Ris suddenly remembered something that Shannon said last night.

"Last night," Ris questioned, "how come you said 'in case Renée made it into Ravenclaw', and not 'in case Renée and you, referring to me, made it into Ravenclaw'?"

Shannon took a moment to remember that point in time and her reasoning before answering, "Because I was rather confident that you would be in Ravenclaw."

"Why is that?" Ris asked innocently.

"Well, on the train you kept pointing out different solutions that opposed widely accepted solutions," Shannon said thoughtfully. "Like you doubted everything the world said was right. What kind of mind like that wouldn't be in Ravenclaw? Besides the fact that you didn't really fit in the other houses."

"I suppose that makes sense," Ris stated, not bothering to mention that the Sorting Hat clearly stated all of the qualities she had that could have put her in any other house.

After sitting for a moment or two in silence, Shannon decided to break it.

"So, where are you from?" Shannon asked Ris.

"I lived in a house in a suburb of London," Ris answered. "My mum and dad worked in London, so they decided to live close to there. Not that it really mattered for my dad, he could've Apparated, but my mum didn't want to commute too far."

"London's a wonderful city," Shannon said in an awed voice. "The only times I've been there were when my brother and sister needed to get their school supplies, and sometimes we went by vehicle and sometimes we went by Floo, so I didn't always get to see the city."

"It gets a little boring the longer you live there," Ris stated with a small smile.

"Well, I guess that would be true," Shannon sighed. "I guess something new does loose its splendor the longer you have it. Like everything in the Muggle world, they make so many new things so fast that the old thing just fades into ordinary or old."

"They just keep finding better ways to live," Ris stated. "My dad always used to say that if we used a combination of living like wizards and living like Muggles, the wizarding world would be better off. And it really is quite a good life, I know, since my father had us live that way. But there are too many 'old fogies' as he called them. Adamant that wizards were far superior than Muggles and nothing they have could be of any use to us. My dad was even pure blood, but he took to mum's style of living in stride, mainly cause the whole wizard thing made her slightly uncomfortable, but, still."

"I know what you mean." Shannon nodded. "My dad's big on that lifestyle, too. He was raised that way cause he's Muggle-born, and he had a taste of both worlds too."

"Maybe that'll happen yet," Ris said absentmindedly. "He would've been happy if it did."

They sat in silence for a moment, Shannon was obviously thinking of the tactful way to approach the question Ris just rose, but was interrupted by Renée running down the stairs. She quickly spotted the other two girls and rushed up to them excitedly.

"It's the first day of classes!" Renée exclaimed. "I'm so excited to see what the classes will be like!"

She pulled the other two girls to their feet, Ash headed back up to the dormitories with a disgruntled look, and they headed out of the common room down to breakfast, Renée leading the way at a jogging pace as she practically skipped down the hall. She turned around to notice that Shannon and Ris were not quite as enthusiastic as her and she quickly headed back to them.

"Aren't you excited?" she asked as she pranced back down the hallway. "We're going to learn magic!"

She did several graceful jumps and turns, showing that she had obviously taken dance lessons, as she continued to work her way down to breakfast. Shannon and Ris both just shook their heads, questioning Renée's sanity.

"That girl has problems," Shannon sighed. "I swear her mother dropped her a few too many times as a child."

Renée came back to them once again when she realized that the other two girls were not going to try to keep up with her. She contented herself with walking at their pace, but continued to exclaim happily, clap her hands, and dance in one spot. Ris wondered how a person could be so happy and full of energy, especially in the morning, and clearly Shannon was wondering this as well.

"How can you be so energetic?" Shannon asked Renée. "You're never this awake in the mornings."

"Yes, but how many mornings have I woken up in a magical castle that functions as a school to teach young witches and wizards magic?" Renée stated with all sincerity.

"Well, yes," Shannon admitted, "but the rest of us aren't dancing in the corridors."

"True point," Ris chimed with a smile.

"But I've never even known magic existed before," Renée continued to plead her case. "You all grew up around magic, it's not as new to you."

"Another true point," Ris stated and Shannon just sighed in exasperation.

They soon found themselves in the Great Hall. Many students were already there, eating and chatting happily. Shannon, Ris, and Renée found seats at the Ravenclaw table and helped themselves to the food. Once all of the students worked their way down the Great Hall, Professor Flitwick came around the Ravenclaw table and passed out their schedules.

"We do have all of our classes together right?" Renée asked as she looked at the schedule.

"Of course," Kat responded as she sat down next to the first years and looked over her own schedule. "You have all your classes with all the other students in your year. Sometimes it'll be just Ravenclaws, and sometimes you'll have a double class with the other students in your year from another house.

"Well," Renée announced after looking over her schedule, "we have History of Magic first today..."

"Tough luck that is," Kat interjected. "Binns' classes should not be held in the morning."

"Why's that?" Shannon asked.

"Most boring class given at Hogwarts," Kat answered simply. "Professor Binns, the one who teaches that class, is a ghost. They say that he was so used to teaching the class that when he died, he, well, still got up to teach the class."

"How odd," Renée said.

"Yeah, and really boring," Kat said again.

"Well, the next class we have is Transfiguration," Renée read off her schedule.

"That's not bad, it'll wake you up after Binns' class -- the way McGonagall is, that's for sure," Kat informed them.

"Then we have lunch, then Herbology," Renée finished.

"Herbology's a good class, Sprout's a good teacher," Kat stated.

They finished their breakfast in good time so they could, hopefully, get to class on time. Thankfully, Kat agreed to show them to Professor Binns' room, as it was on her way to Charms. Kat warned them of all of the trick stairs and told them about the other quirky things within the castle that gave it its personality, such as the paintings, the doors and how they liked to fool people, the ghosts, and especially Peeves.

"You'll grow tired of his pranks and be annoyed when they're aimed at you," Kat informed them, "but there are times when he pulls off a spectacular prank on someone you don't like, which makes him worth it."

She parted with them at the History of Magic room as she promised. Ris, Renée and Shannon entered the room and chose seats close to each other. They had made it to the room first, thanks to their guide. Lexi and Theresa entered the room shortly after them, and lastly the five boys – Alex, Jeremiah, Damian, Tristan and Andy – came bustling into the room just in time. Just as they sat in the seats they chose, Professor Binns came gliding through the wall. He told them to take out parchment and quills and started right into his lecture in a droning monotone. Ris found that Kat was quite right in saying that this class was boring. It was dreadfully hard to pay attention to Professor Binns as he lectured about people like Uric the Oddball and read off various dates.

They were very happy when that class was over and they decided to go to Transfiguration in mass. They got lost on the way, but managed to get to the class in time. Which turned out to be a very good thing, as Professor McGonagall was quite the strict teacher. As soon as it was time for class to begin, she strode in front of them and informed them of exactly what was expected of them.

"Transfiguration," she told them, "is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone fooling around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She turned her desk into a sheep and back again. All of the students were impressed, though somewhat apprehensive from the warning that Professor McGonagall gave. They were eager to learn this art though, but were faced with many notes and soon realized that this magic took time to develop and master and that furniture and animal transfigurations were high on the list of things that were hard to do. They did get to test their skills after they finished their notes. They were given the task of changing a match into a needle. Ris managed to get hers to become thiner and have a pointier end, but wasn't able to pull off the complete transfiguration. Ris was more successful than most of the class, but not as successful as one other person. Renée managed to make her match have a very pointy tip and even shine like metal. Professor McGonagall was quite pleased and awarded Ravenclaw ten points.

After the class was dismissed, the girls headed back to the Great Hall for lunch. On the way, Shannon shared her resentment at the fact that Renée was able to complete the magical task that she, herself, was not so successful at performing.

"I mean," Shannon tried to defend her dignity, "you're a Muggle-born, you didn't even know this existed till two months ago."

"I read a lot," Renée said sheepishly.

"That you did," Shannon admitted crossing her arms.

"Maybe you shouldn't take so much offense to it, Shannon," Ris added her view. "Maybe with work you'll turn out better, Renée just started with it right off the bat and maybe it won't develop as far."

Shannon looked sideways at Ris. Ris tried very hard not to laugh at what she just said, as she knew better and that was said with some sarcasm, but if it made Shannon feel better...

"I suppose that could happen," Shannon said thoughtfully.

Renée sneezed slightly, which Ris was sure was a stifled giggle, guessing that Renée picked up on her sarcasm. Ris smiled slightly and Shannon gradually figured out that Ris didn't really mean what she said. This was rather obvious due to the fact that Shannon was now glaring at her.

"Okay," Ris gave in, "maybe Renée's just more gifted than you in witchcraft. But is that really a better answer than my first one?"

"I'll pretend the first one's true," Shannon stated haughtily, turning her face away from them. She couldn't keep up the charade of being actually angry, though, and started giggling. Renée soon joined her and Ris couldn't help but join in either.

"Oh, it's just not fair," Shannon huffed. "I want to be better than you at something! Stupid gifted people." Shannon finished by attractively sticking her tongue out at Renée.

"Well, it's hardly my own fault," Renée said, pouting. Ris laughed at their antics, as she could tell that neither of them were fully serious.

"And, you!" Shannon turned on Ris. "You're not much better! Your Transfiguration was nearly as good as hers. The rest of the class couldn't even change their match."

"Yours seemed a little pointier than a regular match," Ris tried to cheer Shannon up.

"Did it really?" Shannon asked in speculation.

"Oh, yes, totally, I saw it with my own eyes," Renée chimed in.

"You know, I think you're right," Shannon stated confidently. "It was pointy, maybe I'm not a total failure as a witch."

"Even so, I don't think they test you on your success as a witch from your first official act of witchcraft," Ris pointed out.

"I suppose that would be a little unfair," Shannon agreed.

"Just slightly," Ris confirmed sarcastically.

They had reached the Great Hall and it was abuzz with the chatter of all the students that were milling about for their lunch break. The girls sat down at the Ravenclaw table and helped themselves to the food that was already on the serving dishes. Shortly after they started eating, Kat joined them.

"So, how is your first day of classes going?" Kat asked them.

"Oh! It was amazing!" Renée excailmed and started talking rapidly about the day. Kat just smiled and nodded at her and glanced at the other two.

"Binns was boring, she did good in Transfiguration," Shannon translated and summarized what Renée was still ranting about.

"Ah, yes," Kat said with a nod, "to be expected. Well, the Binns part, good on her for doing welling in Transfiguration, I find it rather difficult myself."

"Where are Faith and Ray?" Shannon asked, noticing the other friends they had made were not present.

"Oh, sometimes the lunch between different years doesn't quite line up," Kat answered. "I was afraid that lunch would be rather lonely, but I have you guys."

"What about the other second years?" Renée asked, having finally stopped talking about the day thus far after realizing that no one was actually listening to her.

"Well, my options there are the extreme of all girly-girls, or Loony Lovegood," Kat answered slightly bitterly. "Not the cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned."

"Loony Lovegood?" Shannon questioned.

"Yeah, it's really Luna, but she's...shall we say, odd," Kat replied slowly, nodding her head towards the end of the table. There sat a girl with dirty blond hair with almost frighteningly bulging eyes. She was reading an issue of _The Quibbler_ while eating her lunch. She seemed to not be bothered at all that she was by herself, she even had a dreamy type look on her face.

"She reads the _Quibbler_?" Shannon said in disbelief. "No one takes that thing seriously."

"Her daddy is the publisher of the _Quibbler_, and I'm pretty sure she believes every word that is printed in that magazine," Kat stated meaningfully. Shannon and Ris nodded in understanding of what Kat meant.

"What's--?" Renée started.

"It's like wizarding tabloids," Shannon answered Renée's question before she finished asking it.

"Oooh," Renée nodded in understanding, "I see."

"So, yes, you three are far more preferable to most anyone else in Ravenclaw," Kat stated. "No offense to them, they're all just not my kind of people."

"I can understand that," Shannon assured Kat and the other two girls nodded in agreement.

They ate their lunch while listening to Kat tell them stories from her first few days at Hogwarts last year until it was time for them to start heading to class.

"Just out these doors to the left, 'bout the easiest class to find," Kat informed them as they were about to part ways and head out to Herbology.

"This a double class," Renée said reading her schedule, as she still pulled it out at every opportunity. "Oh, we have it with the Slytherins, is that the house you said was bad news, Shannon?"

"Yes," Shannon answered wrinkling her nose. "This is bound to be a fun class."

"Well, I'm sure they can't all be bad..." Renée tried to sound hopeful.

"There are always bad apples, no matter how optimistic you are," Shannon sighed.

"Talking about the Slytherins?" a voice behind them asked. They turned to see Alex and one of the other Ravenclaw boys walking behind them. He had the shade of hair that was arguably red or brown and was of average height, which seemed slightly short standing next to Alex.

"Pretty easy to recognize a description of a Slytherin, I suppose," Shannon nodded.

"I was just informing Alex here about their wonderful qualities," the other boy told them in an Irish accent. "He's Muggle-born so he needed to be warned."

"Finally!" Renée cried with joy. "Another Muggle-born! I was starting to think I was the only one in Ravenclaw!"

"Aren't you the girl that got us ten points in Transfiguration this morning?" the boy questioned.

"Yes," Renée answered sheepishly.

"Figures, the Muggle-born outperforms us all," he laughed.

"My thoughts exactly," Shannon added.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced," the boy said. "I'm Jeremiah Rosenberry, but feel free to call me Jer for short."

"Shannon Bollard."

"Renée Smith, with an accent on the second e."

"Ris Klein."

"Hey, you did next best to Renée in transfiguration," Jer addressed Ris. "You're not Muggle-born too, right?"

"No, I'm half," Ris answered.

"Better off than me, I'm Pureblood and still getting outperformed by the Muggle-born and Half Blood," Jer said with a smile. "But, since you two are girls I will forgive you both."

"How kind of you," Ris replied sarcastically.

"I try." Jer smiled. "Him, on the other hand, if he ever out performs me, he gets no forgiveness," he said pointing to Alex.

"Yes, I'll have to try my best to do worse than you." Alex hung his head in mock shame.

"Bloody right," Jer said, elbowing Alex in the side playfully.

"I'm pretty sure mine wasn't that much better than yours, anyways," Ris told Jer.

"Well, I suppose I might've done okay," Jer said thoughtfully

They had crossed the lawn and reached the green houses by this point. Before them stood five different greenhouses, they headed toward the one labeled with a 1 as there were already other first years gathered around the door.

"Oh, no, don't let her see me!" Jer suddenly ducked behind Alex.

"Jeremiah!" came a feminine screech from the cluster of first years.

"Too late," Jer groaned. He sighed and regained his composure and stepped out from behind Alex shouting, "Alicia!"

A short brunette girl ran up to Jer and threw her arms around him, to what seemed to be the great displeasure of Jer.

"I haven't seen you since the train ride," she squeaked. "Silly you, trying to hide from me, aren't you?"

"Yes, you're just too good for me," Jer said in obvious disdain. Ris got the feeling that the girl was only teasing and some how missed the fact that Jer obviously did not return her feelings.

"Oh, and who is this, Alicia?" Another Slytherin girl came up to them. She had a look of disgust on her face as she looked at the group of Ravenclaws. "He's not in Slytherin."

"Oh, but he is a pure blood," Alicia comforted her friend, "and Ravenclaw is not nearly as bad as the others."

"I suppose that is true," the girl said changing her distasteful expression to more of a coy one as she studied Jer more closely. Thankfully for Jer, the Herbology professor opened the door at that moment.

"Oh! Time for class!" Alicia ran off to join the other Slytherins entering the greenhouse. A look of relief washed over Jer as he came back to join them, making sure he was behind all of them as they entered.

"Aw, how lucky for you," Shannon teased, "you have a girlfriend!"

"She wishes she was," Jer rolled his eyes. "That's the trouble with being pure blood, you meet all the other pure blood kids, and your parents are sometimes a little crazy on wanting to keep the blood line pure. And then, impressionable children get the idea that they're somehow betrothed to another child."

"She thinks you're engaged?" Renée asked shocked. "At such a young age?"

"She _thinks_ is the key word," Jer sighed. "My parents are friendly with hers 'cause it's the polite thing to do, but they won't marry me off to someone without my permission."

"The wizarding world is so odd sometimes," Renée commented as they chose their spots along the long table that stood down the center of the room. After everyone had made their way into the greenhouse and sat down, their professor addressed them.

"Good afternoon everyone, I am Professor Sprout and I will be teaching you about the wonderful plants of the wizarding world," she said. She didn't look nearly as tidy as the other professors that Ris had seen but she guessed that was from working with plants, one doesn't really want to look their best when doing that.

"Those of you who are Muggle-born, and even some of you with wizard blood, will soon learn that wizarding plants are far different than ordinary Muggle ones, but even those have their uses in the magical world. You will learn how to care for all kinds of plants as well as how to keep yourself safe from the dangerous ones.

"Well, let's begin with role call, as you have no doubt noticed, this is a double class with another house. Since this is only the first day, I would not expect you to know everyone, so here is a chance to learn a few new names.

"Able, Zachary."

One of the Slytherin boys raised his hand to indicate that he was present.

"Bollard, Shannon."

"Why does my last name start with 'B'," Shannon muttered under her breath as she raised her hand.

"Boot, Theresa," Professor Sprout nodded to Theresa as she raised her hand. "Less of a troublemaker than Terry, I hope."

"Buehring, Timothy; Casson, Ethan."

Ris looked over to where the Slytherin boys were sitting, still convinced that they just did not look like pleasant people.

"Crane, Damian; Durning, Alexander."

Ris also took the time to look and see the Ravenclaws as she called their name, wanting to make sure that she could put names to faces.

"Farrows, Kenneth; Harrison, Roxanne."

She looked over to the group of Slytherin girls for the first time and felt the same way as she did with the boys. They may have been pretty, but they didn't look nice.

"Klein, Amaris."

It took Ris a moment to register the fact that fact that it was her name that was just called and sheepishly raised a hand.

"James, Joshua."

_Another Slytherin_, Ris thought to her self as her eyes trailed over to the boy raising his hand, _and what a confusing name_.

"McCombs, Tristan."

_Another Ravenclaw that I haven't met yet_.

"Mohr, Kathleen."

Ris looked over to the girl raising her hand. She looked more pleasant than the other girls in Slytherin, perhaps they weren't all bad.

"Parkinson, Tulip."

Ris recognized her as the girl that had been rather rude to Jer.

"Patterson, Andrew."

_That's the last of the Ravenclaws that I haven't met_, Ris thought, making sure that she could name all the people in her class.

"Robb, Alicia."

Ris recognized her as the girl that had assaulted Jer. Alicia added a little wave to him as Professor Sprout called, "Rosenberry, Jeremiah."

"Smith, Renée."

Renée held up her hand very professionally as she sat very straight in her chair.

"Williams, Alexis; and Yaxley, India," Professor Sprout finished the role. "Well, now that we have that covered, take out some parchment and your quills and we'll start notes on the some common medical herbs."

At the end of the lecture, the students headed back to the castle, all talking about what they had already experienced, and what they anticipated in the following classes. As the Ravenclaws were done for the day, they all decided to head back up to the dormitories together.

"I was kinda hoping that we'd get to learn bout something a little more exciting than herbs in Herbology," Shannon complained.

"I thought it was fascinating!" Renée objected. "I never knew wizards used plants for so many things."

"I think you find the wizarding world itself fascinating," Ris commented.

"The glamour will wear off eventually, I'm sure," Jer added.

Renée crossed her arms and huffed at them, unable to think of a counter statement.

"Seeing all this stuff for the first time is rather overwhelming," Alex attempted to support Renée's side.

"Exactly," Renée nodded, "I'm sure you all would be amazed by a telephone."

"A tele-what?" Jer asked.

"My point exactly," Renée stated triumphantly.

They had reached the unicorn statue by this point and Renée demanded that she be the one to give the password. She stated 'Peregrine' confidently and was rather disappointed when the unicorn did exactly as Kat said it would, just lift a hoof. They entered the common room and the five of them found some chairs in a corner and continued to talk about the differences between the Muggle and wizarding worlds.

"So, how do people in the Muggle world make a living?" Jer asked.

"Well, there are many, many things that people can do for a living," Renée replied.

"What do your parents do for a living?" Jer made the question easier.

"Well, my mother is a nurse," Renée answered. "She...it's kind of hard to explain if you don't have any idea...let's see..."

"Nurses are like Healers," Shannon helped. "They help the sick people."

"Yes, that, thank you, Shannon." Renée nodded to her friend. "Only, her job is special, she works with the X-rays, they're like machines that can take a picture of inside your body so they can see what's wrong with you easier."

"Fascinating," Jer said intrigued. "Muggles have developed amazing technology to adapt to not having magic."

"And my dad," Renée continued answering the question, "is a photographer."

"Ah, that one I understand," Jer said nodding. "What about you Alex? You're Muggle-born too."

"Oh, well, my dad works in a steel factory, and my mum's an elementary teacher," Alex answered simply.

"And you," Jer addressed Ris, "you're half, what does your Muggle parent do?"

"Oh, my mum's a musician," Ris answered.

"Really?" all of them chimed.

"Um, yes," Ris stated, slightly taken aback by all of them being surprised.

"What kind of musician?" Renée asked eagerly.

"She plays in pit orchestras at West End," Ris answered.

"Really? That's amazing!" Renée said enthusiastically. "It's always been my dream to perform there!"

"Muggles really do have a wide range of job opportunities," Jer commented.

"Your turn," Renée said turning the question around. "What do your parents really do Shannon?"

"Oh, I suppose anything they would have told you wouldn't have been quite right, would it?" Shannon said. "Well, my mother is a translator of ancient artifacts, and she kinda freelances it, but right now she's in Egypt working for Gringotts. And my father works with the Department of Games and Sports after he retired from the Montrose Magpies."

"Montrose Magpies?" everyone echoed; Renée and Alex questioning, Ris uncertain, and Jer excited.

"It's a Quidditch team, a wizarding sport, you'll understand when you watch it, all the houses have teams," Shannon explained. "And yes, he really played for them."

"They're like, the best English team!" Jer exclaimed.

"Yeah, they are, he even trained us all some, both my sister and brother were on the Ravenclaw team," Shannon continued.

"That's amazing," Jer said still impressed.

"All right, your turn, Jer," Renée said turning to him.

"Oh, right, of course you'd want to know," Jer said. "Well, my mum is a stay at home mum, so nothing spectacular there, but my father works for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

Ris blanched slightly. Just what she needed, a friend whose father could get her in trouble and force her into the life they make werewolves live.

"That sounds exciting," Renée said, thankfully no one noticed Ris' complexion pale.

"Yeah, he's got his work cut out for him," Jer continued. "He's trying to get more rights for a lot of the part human ones. There's a lot of people in the way."

That relaxed Ris slightly. Maybe there was little to worry about, but then she realized something that was almost worse.

"Well that's hardly fair, why would they do that?" Renée asked.

"Because the wizarding world is obsessed with purity." Jer shrugged. "He has even less support now, his main partner died in an accident a couple months ago, David..." realization dawned on Jer's face and he turned to face Ris and finished, "Klein."

Ris looked away and squeezed her eyes shut. She thought that she'd be alright with talking about it, she'd been preparing herself since the conversation turned to their parents, but it was just too much.

"I'm sorry, Ris, I only just realized," Jer started, trying to comfort her.

"You're fine, Jer," Ris managed to get out. She suddenly stood up, a tear sliding down her cheek. "I'm sorry, I need..." she trailed off as she ran to the dormitories. She heard Shannon and Renée calling after her.

She ran into the room and closed the door behind her. She climbed onto her bed and close the curtains around it. Ash looked quizzically at her and mewed softly as she put her face in her pillow. Ash nudged her check in concern but jerked his head up when the door creaked open.

"Ris?" Renée called. Ris sighed and turned her head so she wouldn't be muffled by the pillow.

"Please, I need some time alone," Ris managed to say with little difficulty.

"Alright," came Shannon's voice. "We just wanted to let you know that we're here if you want to talk."

"Thank you," Ris said softly as the door closed.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV

Ris was left alone with her thoughts for multiple hours until her drapes were suddenly pulled apart. Ris' eyes widened in surprise. She moved her legs out of Kat's way as she promptly sat on the end of the bed.

"Moping around for this long is simply not healthy," Kat informed Ris. "So when they informed me that you had been been up here for this long, I insisted that we had to save you from your reservoir of thoughts."

Ris pushed herself into a sitting position as Shannon and Renée joined them on her bed. She looked to each one of them in turn, shocked at their demand to make her stop mourning. They each looked at her expectantly.

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered, clearing her throat. "I guess I have been here awhile."

"And missed supper," Shannon said handing Ris an apple. "It's not much, but it was the best we could do; it's hard to transport most of the stuff you eat. Kat can get you more food if you really want it."

"No, no, this will be fine," Ris said shaking her head. "Thank you."

"Want to talk?" Renée asked with a concerned look on her face.

"I-" Ris started, hugging her knees to her chest. "I don't know."

"When my parents separated," Shannon shared, "I never really felt better until I just unleashed all my feelings on my sister."

Ris sighed again, her eyes downcast. "It was just so sudden. We were so close, much closer than I was with my mum. It's just been really hard without him."

The girls nodded in sympathetic understanding and waited expectantly for her to continue. Ris looked at them all again and bit her lip, a nervous habit of hers.

"Did Jer tell you what happened?" Ris asked nervously.

"No, he said that he just knew that it happened, no details," Renée answered.

Ris breathed a sigh of relief, but kept her relief hidden well enough that the other girls did not notice. "Well-" Ris started, trying to think of what she really wanted to say. "I-" she started again but stopped and placed her forehead on her knees. "I'm sorry, that's all I can say right now."

"That's alright," Kat said, "you take your time. However, there is a game of Exploding Snap occurring downstairs and I rather much think that watching a humorous game is just what you need."

All three of the girls then proceeded to grab some part of Ris' arm or back and then pushed or shoved her accordingly off her bed. Ris was slightly exasperated at their adamant resolve to make her go downstairs, but she knew that it really would be best for her. So, she willingly followed them downstairs into the common room. She could instantly tell where the game was taking place as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

They worked their way over to the commotion to see that Jer had taken the liberty of showing Alex how to play the game. Though it seemed that Jer may have been leaving out some rules as Alex had soot all over him while Jer was pristine. After watching a few moves, Shannon felt that she needed to intervene.

"I think Alex needs to play with someone that won't cheat," Shannon interjected as the other three girls found seats and attempted to stay out of the argument Shannon was starting. The two boys looked over, hearing Shannon's voice, Alex looking slightly embarrassed and Jer had a look of mock shock on his face.

"Are you accusing me of cheating, Bollard?" he asked her.

"Indeed I am, Rosenberry," Shannon challenged.

"Well then," Jer countered, "if you think my teaching is sub par, than feel free to take over." Jer stood and gave a mock bow to Shannon. He then wondered over and sat down in an empty space next to Ris, looked over at her meekly and whispered, "Sorry."

Ris just smiled and shook her head. "No, you were fine, it just took me by surprise."

"I felt like an idiot," Jer admitted. "I should have realized sooner so I could've kept my mouth shut."

"You're fine," Ris reiterated. "Honestly, I feel a little guilty; I had totally forgotten about meeting you when we were younger."

Jer's eyes widen. "Oh, yeah, we did. See no reason to feel bad." He laughed. "I forgot too."

"That makes me feel a little better." Ris laughed slightly. "It was a long time ago, though. I only went the once to any of the big parties. My dad took my mum, but it was a Pureblood party, so a lot of them were not pleased. After that I think we had a dinner at your house, but then my mum got the job at West End and my dad refused to go to any fancy dinners without her."

Their conversation was interrupted by Shannon suddenly shouting, "I win!"

"Oh, good job, Bollard, you beat the Muggle-born!" Jer smirked.

"Oh? What was that?" Shannon asked turning to face him. "Get up here and I'll beat a Pureblood too."

"We'll see about that," Jer said playfully as he sprung up to take Alex's place. Alex in turn filled the seat next to Ris. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight of him – he had ash all over his face. He looked at her meekly, smiling, as he was certain that he did look ridiculous. Ris reached into an inside pocket of her robe and pulled out a handkerchief.

"Here," she said offering it to him.

"Ah, thank you," he said, taking it graciously. "It's a fun game, even if I lost horribly and losing makes you look ridiculous."

"Yeah, it is," Ris said with a laugh. "I used to play it with my dad, and he'd lose on purpose just so he'd looked like that." Alex look at her nervously for a moment. Ris smiled and shook her head, interpreting his look. "I'm fine," she assured him. He nodded and the conversation lapsed for second as he wiped his face.

"So, your mum must be a pretty good musician," he said.

"Yeah, she really is quite good," Ris said, nodding.

"Did she ever give you lessons?"

"Actually, she did, it was our little thing," Ris said with a smile. "Since she couldn't share anything magical with me, she shared music with me, which she always said was just as magical."

"Really? What did she teach you?" Alex asked, his interest peaked.

"Flute," she answered. "Her main instrument was saxophone, but being a professional woodwind player, especially for pit orchestra, means you play all the woodwind instruments."

"That's cool, I started playing the trumpet last year," Alex shared.

"Oh, really? I wasn't sure I'd meet another instrumentalist at Hogwarts," she said.

"Yeah, me neither," he said with a nod. "I was kind of put out when I found out that Hogwarts didn't really have any sort of music program."

"Yes, that was one of the things my mother resented about the wizarding community," Ris sighed. "That's why she started giving me lessons so early. She believes that music is very important."

"I can't disagree with that," Alex said. Their attention then turned back to the game. Apparently, Shannon had indeed beaten Jer, as was apparent from the ash on his face and slightly annoyed look. Though, currently, Shannon was playing Renée, who was also losing.

"Why can't I ever beat you at these games?" Renée cried, frustrated.

"Because I'm just that awesome," Shannon answered as she won the game.

"Alright, I challenge Ris to this game!" Renée declared.

"What?" Ris responded in surprise.

"Since when did the loser get to pick their challenger?" Shannon pointed out.

"I do not care!" Renée continued. "I shall face Ris!"

Ris rolled her eyes and got up to take Shannon's place. Unfortunately for Renée, she still lost, but she managed to make it an amusing game all the same. They continued playing for several more hours, everyone taking turns playing everyone else. At the end of their run of games, it was decided that it was in fact Ray who was the best at the game, followed by Kat, and then Shannon, who was convinced that they were only better due to more years of experience.

They all then headed to their respective dormitories in hopes of getting well rested for their second day of classes. Ris couldn't help but go to bed with a smile. Despite the slight bumps in the day, she still was convinced that she had made the right choice.

The next morning was very similar to the previous morning. Ris got out before all the other girls, but in stead of reading her book, this time she filled out the planner she'd gotten in Diagon Alley. She filled in her class schedule, then on the last week of the month she put very small 'P's in the corner of the squares, and on the last day of the month, a small 'X'. Ris shut her planner quickly when she heard her friends coming down the stairs and joined them to walk down to breakfast.

Kat showed them to the staircase that lead down to the dungeons for Potions, but didn't lead them the whole way as she had Transfiguration that morning and didn't dare show up late. They made their way down the hallway, following the sounds of chatter and soon saw a group of first years standing in the hallway.

"This is a double class with the Gryffindors," Renée read off her ever present schedule.

"Least we don't have Potions with the Slytherins," Shannon stated. "That'd be double the fun with Snape as the teacher."

"I keep getting more and more excited about this class," Renée said sarcastically.

"'Bout time you weren't excited about something," Shannon said with a nod.

As they joined the group gathered around the door it suddenly opened on its own and they all filed in nervously. The girls sat in a row at one of the long tables, and Jer and Alex rushed in and took the seats in the row behind them.

"Glad you could join us," Shannon smiled mischievously at them.

"We had a late start," Jer answered, rolling his eyes.

They had made it just in time, as Professor Snape emerged from the back room, quickly and sternly demanding their attention.

"I am Professor Snape, we will begin with role," he said dryly. Shannon was first on this list, which prompted her to curse her last name more than usual. Ris tried to memorize all of the Gryffindor names as they were called. "Cameron, Miranda; Carlyle, Jacqueline; Coote, Richard; Frobisher, Victoria; Galinsbroke, Skylar ("That's such a cool name!" Renée whispered); Myers, Casey; Phillips, Arthur; Vane, Romilda; Wilson, Christian; Zurcher, Brian."

Professor Snape finished calling role and rolled up the scroll that the names were written on. He then came from behind his desk and stood in front of them, looking over each of them with a stern eye.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he told them in his quiet, dry voice. "As there is little foolish wand-waving used in potion making, some of you may not even consider it magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses...I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even how to put a stopper in death. That is, if you aren't a bunch of dunderheads that I am usually stuck teaching."

Ris' eyes grew wide, surprised by that last remark. Renée stiffened slightly in her seat and she could see a look of disbelief on Shannon's face. Snape then launched into a lecture on a potion used to cure boils and then split them into pairs to attempt to make it. He divided them by alphabetical order by last name. This paired off Shannon with Theresa, Renée with Jer, Alex with the Gryffindor Victoria Frobisher, and Ris with another Gryffindor, Skylar Galinsbroke.

After getting settled and introducing themselves to each other, Ris and Skylar started on the assigned task. They double-checked everything against what was on the board compared to what was in their notes before doing anything. They seemed to be making good progress and it seemed that they should be able to make a successful potion. As they progressed, the class was distracted slightly by a slight shriek from both Shannon and Theresa. Alarmed, Ris looked over to see their cauldron emitting green smoke in the shape of a mushroom. Snape swept over to the two girls and examined their potion.

"You forgot the porcupine quills," he said nastily. "That will cost you a point from Ravenclaw."

Shannon looked livid and was on the verge of challenging Snape as he walked away, but Theresa stopped her from an irrational decision. However, Renée's hand shot up into the air. Ris was slightly shocked, as she didn't think Renée would ever challenge a teacher. Professor Snape soon noticed her hand.

"Yes, Miss Smith?" he asked, sounding irritated.

"I believe we're done, sir," she said. The whole room was shocked. Most people were, at most, three quarters of the way done with their assignment and there were still twenty minutes left in the class. Snape sauntered over to Jer and Renée's cauldron and looked it over.

"That'll be a point for Ravenclaw," he muttered after finding no fault with potion.

Shannon looked slightly cross and commented on it as they left the class to head to Charms. "Of course the two brilliant people get paired up, not fair is what it is."

"I didn't even do anything," Renée said, casting an annoyed glance at Jer.

"What are you talking about?" Jer asked innocently. "You follow directions very well."

"He was completely unjustified to take points away for a simple mistake, especially on your first day," Ris added.

"Snape is just a cross teacher," Jer said in attempts of justifying Shannon's lost point to Ravenclaw. "I'm sure you've heard of him from your brother or sister."

"It wasn't even my fault," Shannon interjected. "I told Theresa to put the quills in, not my fault she didn't."

Shannon then crossed her arms with a huff and brooded quietly the rest of the way to Charms.

Ris was excited for this class. Professor Flitwick was their head of house and he seemed like he would be a fun teacher. They chose their seats and waited patiently for the class to start. The other five Ravenclaws entered shortly after them – Ris caught Theresa sending an apologetic glance to Shannon who ignored it – and finally Professor Flitwick entered the room. The tiny Professor levitated himself up a short distance and placed himself on a stack of books so he would have a better view of the class.

"Good morning, everyone," he greeted them cheerily. "As I'm sure many of you know, I am not only your Charms professor, but I am also the head of the Ravenclaw house. That being said, all of you are free to come to me with any problems or concerns that may arise. Now, let me do a quick role call so I can put some names with faces." He proceeded through the role quickly as there were only ten people in this class.

"Today," Professor Flitwick said after he finished the role, "we are going to start learning the most basic, and the most important, component of charm work: the swish and flick."

They then spent the rest of the day working on getting the precise wrist movement that was required for spell casting. They also took a few notes on that and a few other basic things. After class, they headed back to the Great Hall for lunch. This time, Ray and Faith were able to join them, but Kat was not.

"So, how are classes going?" Faith asked.

"Snape's a prick," Shannon answered hotly.

"Ah, he's working his charm already I see." Faith smiled.

"Pretty much." Shannon sighed.

"Charms was fun though," Renée chimed.

"Yeah, I'm glad we have a good class to follow that nightmare," Shannon said gloomily.

"How are classes for you guys?" Renée asked to distract Shannon from her moping.

"Not as fun as usual," Ray answered glumly.

"Oh?" Renée said, surprised by that answer.

"What my brother means is, classes are a lot harder this year because we have to prepare for our O.W.L.'s," Faith explained.

"Owls?" Renée questioned.

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels," Faith answered. "They determine if we continue on in Hogwarts, and if we can pursue the career we want."

"Oh, that does sound like it would be rather difficult," Renée said.

When they were done eating, Faith agreed to show them to their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ris was very excited for this class. She hoped that Professor Lupin would be a good teacher, and she knew there would not be any hints to anyone being a werewolf. The other group of Ravenclaws had actually beat them to this class, and they filled in the seats around them. Professor Lupin soon entered the room and started class.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he greeted them. "The goal of this class will be to teach you some basic defensive magic and cover some of the dark arts and creatures. However, like any magic, you need to understand it before you can use it. So, take out your books, some parchment, and a quill, and if we get through the notes, we'll try and put some of the spells into action."

With the promise of getting to do spell work, they went through their notes quickly. Professor Lupin smiled at them when they had finished their notes.

"All right, you get to learn a spell, as promised," he said. "Now, it may not seem like the spectacular spell, but it is fairly easy to perform and has its uses, making it a wonderful starting spell." With a swish of his wand the lights in the room extinguished themselves.

"_Lumos_!" he said firmly. The tip of his wand suddenly illuminated and gave off a pleasant light, not too bright, and was enough to light anything in the immediate vicinity of the person using the spell. Ris heard Renée whisper "Brilliant" in reaction to the magic.

"As I said, not the most spectacular, but it has infinite uses," Professor Lupin informed them. "Now, everyone, wands at the ready and say, '_Lumos!'_"

The class did as he said and the room was filled with light. Ris looked around and saw that most everyone had gotten the spell to work, though there were a few, including Alex, whose light kept flickering. Ris also noticed that the light was almost a subtle rainbow effect. None of the light that any of them produced was a pure white light, but was slightly tinged and the color varied from user to user. Ris found this a fascinating aspect of magic, even with the same, simple spell, the user still showed through.

"Excellent!" Professor Lupin complimented the class. "To extinguish the light, simply say, '_Nox!_'"

The class echoed their professor and the room was once again dark which Professor Lupin fixed with a wave of his wand.

"Well done, today has been a successful first day and now we are out of time. I will see you all on Thursday, and we'll work on a few more spells then."

They left the class, all rather happy with it. Even Shannon seemed to have forgotten Potions with the fact that she was able to successfully perform the Lumos spell. They started heading back to the common room, but as they passed some windows, Shannon stopped walking to stare at the grounds.

"Hey, guys!" she called at them. "Lets go lounge outside." She pointed out the window to the various students roaming the grounds. "No reason to waste away the beautiful day inside this stuffy castle all day."

"Good idea," Jer said, nodding his consent. Everyone else agreed as well and they headed outside.

Shannon scanned the grounds when they got there to pick a good spot for them. She eventually lead them off to one of the lone tress there were scattered across the lawn. It was a large hazel tree that provided an nice area of shade for the five of them to sit in. They placed their bags in a pile at the base of the tree and sat in a circle on the grass. Shannon shed her black robes showing her short-sleeved white shirt and sweater vest sporting the Ravenclaw colors. She lay down on the grass with her arms flung out.

"It's so nice out," she declared again. "Why didn't we think of coming out here earlier?"

"Because the common room is so amazing?" Renée suggested, also taking off her robe. Jer and Alex followed suit, but Ris convulsively rubbed her right arm and left her robe on.

"Did anyone else noticed how pretty the room looked with all the different Lumos spells?" Renée asked.

"It was like a rainbow," Ris said.

"Yeah, it was brilliant," Shannon chimed in. "I think I'll like Professor Lupin's class, he's a good teacher."

"And he didn't give us any homework on the first day," Jer added.

"Oh!" Ris gasped. "We have to read for McGonagall's class tomorrow." There was a collective groan from the group.

"Well, why don't we read it together?" Renée suggested. "We can all take turns, make the reading more enjoyable."

"That sounds like a good idea," Ris agreed.

"Also gives those of us that don't understand it a chance to ask questions," Alex added.

"See? It's a win-win," Renée said with a smile.

They all went to grab their books from their bags. Having to move, Shannon noticed that Ris had not taken off her robe.

"Aren't you warm?" Shannon asked her.

"What?" Ris asked, surprised by the question. "Oh, no, I'm just naturally cold most of the time." She sighed inwardly at how easily the lies were starting to come. In truth, she was rather warm, though not uncomfortably so. However, she had gone at great lengths to make sure no one saw her right arm. There was the scar from where the werewolf had bitten her, and a scar like that would easily reveal her condition.

"If you say so," Shannon said in response. Ris was grateful that her friend let the subject drop and that no one else picked it up. However, Jer did give her an odd look, but he looked away from her so quickly that she could not be sure if she just imagined it.

They then began to read aloud, taking turns reading paragraphs around the circle, but Renée's ever wondering mind distracted them all for a time.

"You know," she said at the start of one of her turns, "I normally like forests, but this one kind of creeps me out. It's beautiful, yet kind of scary at the same time."

"That's why it's called the Forbidden Forest," Shannon said, sounding exasperated at Renée's continual demonstrations of how little she knew of the wizarding world.

"It is?" Renée asked. "Don't remember that."

"My brother told me about it," Shannon explained.

"Why is it forbidden?" Renée continued her questions. Ris started subconsciously rubbing her right arm again.

"'Cause there's lots of nasty stuff in there," Shannon replied simply.

"Oh, like nasty magical creatures?" Renée chimed, sounding all too excited about dangerous creatures.

"Yeah, there's centaurs in there for sure," Shannon replied, "and some say there's giant spiders, and even werewolves!"

Renée and Alex both gave the desired reaction that Shannon was going for, thankfully distracting them from Ris' downcast look and her bright red face. However, when she looked back up, Jer was giving her that knowing stare that disappeared before she fully recognized it.

They went back to their reading after Renée's tangent and finished just in time for supper. After supper they went to the common room where the spent the rest of the evening talking and playing games.

When they headed to bed, Ris' thoughts once again traveled to the full moon that would be happening in a few weeks time. She shook her head forcefully to rid those negative thoughts from her head. She had friends at the moment, and she should enjoy it while it lasted. And who knew, maybe if they became good enough friends, being a werewolf wouldn't matter to them.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V

The following day of classes was very similar to their first day; History of Magic, Transfiguration and Herbology being their classes during the day. However, they had Astronomy that night up in one of the highest towers of the castle.

This class frightened Ris some. Would anyone recognize the fact that her absences lined up with the full moon? She just hoped that the class only being once a week would lessen the chance of anyone noticing.

Thursday was also very similar to Tuesday, but they had one addition to their classes that day as well.

"Yes!" cried Shannon looking at her schedule for the day at breakfast. "Finally, flying lessons, today, after Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Oh, really?" Renée asked, sounding slightly apprehensive.

"Yes, and I am extremely excited," confirmed Shannon.

The aspect of flying lessons was enough to motivate Shannon through the day, even through Potions. Whenever she started to complain, someone just had to mention the word 'flying' and she would immediately begin talking about how she had learned from her father and what a fantastic flier he had been. After Defense Against the Dark Arts, Shannon practically ran out the door and was half way down the hallway by the time the others came out of the room.

"Come on!" Shannon exclaimed. "Flying lessons are next!"

"Was I this bad on the first day?" Renée asked Ris.

Ris let out a laugh and responded, "Thereabouts."

"Oh," Renée said, "I understand now."

She was silent a moment longer, and then joined in Ris' laughter.

"Girls are weird," Alex commented, looking between the disappearing figure of Shannon and the two giggling girls.

"I am inclined to agree." Jer nodded.

"Oh, please," Renée said, her manner becoming serious. "Everyone knows that girls are vastly superior to boys." Ris nodded in agreement, waiting for one of the boys to retort.

"Is that so?" Jer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How do you do that?" Renée questioned in wonder. "I can't make my eyebrows do that." She then proceeded attempting to raise one eyebrow independently of the other.

Ris couldn't help her self and burst out laughing at Renée's antics, and Alex soon followed suit. Jer just stared, but eventually caved when Renée held an eyebrow up with a finger and exclaimed, "Look! I'm doing it!"

"Who's superior to who, now?" Jer asked when the laughter subsided.

"Whatever, I did it, too." Renée stuck her tongue out at Jer.

"I hardly think that counted," Alex commented.

"That's what you think," Renée responded.

They had reached the Quidditch Pitch at this point and finally caught up with Shannon.

"What took you guys so long?" Shannon asked, walking up to meet them.

"Look what I can do, Shannon!" Renée then proceeded to hold her eyebrow up with her finger proudly.

Shannon just stood in silence for a few moments while the others tried to stifle their laughs. Shannon finally found words and muttered, "I leave you alone for two minutes..."

"What?" Renée feigned innocence.

"Can't any of you three control her?" Shannon turned on her three laughing friends.

"I think a better question would be, can anyone?" Ris corrected.

"I am my own person!" Renée declared.

"Or at least not encourage her," Shannon sighed.

The sound of a shrill whistle interrupted any and all conversations that were occurring. They all turned to face the origin of the noise. Madam Hooch was a graying witch and had a striking resemblance to a hawk.

"What are you all waiting for?" she called and motioned towards the brooms. "Go stand by a broom!"

The group of first years scrambled to find a broom next to their friends.

"Hold your right hand over your broom," Madam Hooch began when everyone found a broom, "and say 'Up!'"

"UP!" The group of first years chorused.

Some students got their brooms up on the first try, and this, of course, included Shannon, who beamed proudly. Besides Shannon, only a handful of kids got their brooms to respond right away, and Ris had a feeling that none of them were Muggle-born. She got her broom to respond after the third time she commanded it, which seemed to be the norm of most students. However, Renée and a few others were having some difficulty. Ris could tell that Renée's problem was; she was just too nervous.

"Renée, take a deep breath, calm down, and try to sound a little more confident," Ris suggested.

Renée did as she was told and the broom jumped to life and soared to her hand.

"Hey! I did it! Thanks, Ris," Renée said happily.

"No problem," Ris responded, glad that she could help.

Madame Hooch then gave them all instructions to mount their brooms. She walked around to make sure that everyone was holding their broom correctly. After fixing a few people, she then instructed them to attempt to take off. Again, Shannon excelled, and Ris noticed that Jer wasn't doing that bad either. Ris was able to get off the ground fine, but she much preferred her feet on the ground. While up in the air, she saw that Alex wasn't doing half bad and seemed to be enjoying himself. Renée on the other hand, after she had gotten the nerve to get into the air, was sickly white and was gripping the handle for dear life. She didn't stay up in the air for long and only rose half as high as Ris before tilting her broom forward and touching the ground again.

Ris tilted her broom forward and landed next to Renée, figuring that someone had to talk to her and everyone else was enjoying the flying too much to notice.

"Not too fond of heights either?" Ris asked her.

"I guess not," Renée laughed half heartedly.

"You got into the air at least," Ris encouraged. "That's more than can be said for some of the other students." Ris cast a glance around and saw Madame Hooch still trying to get a Hufflepuff girl off the ground.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to be a Quidditch star anytime soon," Renée replied.

"Well, neither am I," Ris shrugged. "I don't like heights much either. Besides, the chances of everyone here being a Quidditch star are about as likely as us all getting struck by lightening."

Renée laughed fully at this. "I guess you have a point there, Ris."

"Occasionally I do." Ris smirked.

The sound of Madame Hooch's whistle stopped their conversation as it signaled for all of the students to land. She gave some closing remarks, commenting on common mistakes she noticed and dismissed the class.

"Wasn't it amazing?" Shannon asked on their way back to the castle.

"Something like that," said Renée.

"Don't be sore just cause I'm better than you at something," Shannon pouted.

"I'm more sore at my fear of heights. I'm glad that you're good at flying," Renée responded sensibly.

"Well, what's the opinion on flying from the rest of you?" Shannon asked, not wanting to pursue Renée's distaste for flying any longer.

"I thought it was brilliant," Alex chimed.

"See, Alex is Muggle-born and he liked it," Shannon directed at Renée.

"I didn't like it much, and I'm not Muggle-born," Ris said, rescuing Renée.

"Why didn't you like it?" Shannon queried.

"I prefer my feet on solid ground," Ris answered.

"And, you?" Shannon turned to Jer.

"What Pureblood doesn't like flying?" Jer answered simply.

"That's right," Shannon confirmed Jer's statement.

The weeks passed in a similar fashion. They'd go to their classes and have conversations ranging from serious matters to those that were completely ridiculous. They would roam the ground in their free time or sit in the common room and play wizard and Muggle games. They would also work on their assignments together, gradually learning everyone's strengths and weaknesses.

It was soon common knowledge between them that if you needed help with Transfiguration you would ask Jer, and for Charms, Ris. Shannon actually became the best with Potions, despite her hatred for Professor Snape and her traumatic first day. Renée was equally good at everything (except Potions, to Shannon's delight) but she was the most useful for getting any notes you missed while dozing off in Binn's class. Alex was decent at everything, but for the most part was out shined by the other four, but he didn't seem to mind at all, in fact he seemed to feel this was a benefit to him.

Ris gradually became more and more comfortable with her new found friends, so much so that she almost forgot about the full moon. She only remembered it when she saw the little 'P' she had placed in the corner of that day. She then realized that no one had really told her what she was to do for the full moon. She knew she needed the potion, but when and where? Where was she to go on the 'day'? What was she to tell her friends?

The answers to her questions came at the end of her Charms lesson that day. Professor Flitwick called her to his desk after he dismissed the class. Ris told her friends that she needed to talk to him and not to wait on her. She felt apprehensive; she wasn't sure she was able to pull this large of a lie off, especially with her new found friends.

"I'm certain you've been wondering what you need to do for the – ah, well – coming week," Professor Flitwick started. Ris just nodded in response and waited for him to go on.

"Well, experience from the past, and especially with the invention of the Wolfsbane Potion, we have decided that perhaps it would be best if you had a set excuse," he continued. "We have done some research, and – if your friends are to ask – you have cystic fibrosis. It is a generally fatal disease that really doesn't have a set cure yet and is fairly rare, no one at Hogwarts even has it. You are to say that once a month you must go and take a potion for a week and then have treatment the last day of the week. You understand all that?"

Ris gulped and nodded. "Cystic fibrosis, treatment once a month, got it."

"Good," Professor Flitwick confirmed. "Now, as to what will really happen. You will go down to the hospital wing after supper to receive your dose of the potion. As I am sure you are aware, the potion only helps to subdue the wolf, and does not completely suppress it. Also, the presence of humans makes it more difficult to control the wolf. That being the case, on the night of the full moon, the ground's keep, Hagrid, will lead you out into a safe part of the Forbidden Forest with the – ah, well – proper restraints."

Ris nodded slowly again, knowing exactly what Professor Flitwick meant by 'proper restraints'.

Professor Flitwick then proceeded to fill her in on the basis of the disease that she was now supposed to know everything about as she would have been born with it if she was infected by it. It was a lot of information, and Ris hoped she could remember it all.

"Well, you had better be on your way Miss Klein," he said, ushering her out the door. "Your friends are no doubt wondering what's taking so long."

Ris' friends were indeed wondering what took so long and asked her such when she joined them at the table for lunch.

"I just had a few questions about the homework he assigned is all," Ris answered with a shrug.

They finished their lunch without further mention of it and made their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ris tried her best to not to let her nerves and uneasiness show through during the class, but Professor Lupin obviously still noticed as he called her to his desk after he dismissed class. Again, she told her friends that she would just meet them in the common room.

"Yes, Professor?" Ris said sheepishly as she approached his desk.

"I just wondered if there was any advice you'd like to hear," he said with a smile. "Any questions you'd like answered. Being as I have some experience in the matter."

"I just wish I didn't have to lie," Ris said softly.

"That was always the hardest part for me too," Professor Lupin nodded. "But, I was left to come up with my own excuses, at least it isn't quite as difficult for you. Eventually my friends found out, but they were much better at coming up with excuses and backing them up than I ever was."

"Your friends found out?" Ris asked, surprised by this.

"And stayed my friends, yes," he finished her actual question and confirmed it. "I had very good friends."

"What did you do for the full moon then?" Ris continued her questions.

"Well, back then, the Wolfsbane Potion hadn't been invented yet, so you can imagine that it was a bit more difficult," he started. "Madame Pomfrey would escort me out to Whomping Willow – have you seen that tree on the grounds?"

Ris shook her head. "No, sir."

"It's planted just beyond the Quidditch pitch, I wouldn't recommend going near it," the professor warned with a smile. "Anyway, there's a secret tunnel under there that leads to an old abandoned house in Hogsmeade. I would spend my full moons there where I couldn't hurt anyone."

"Why aren't I going there then?" Ris asked. "Wouldn't that make more sense than taking me out into the forest?"

"Believe it or not, the Forbidden Forest is actually safer for you at this point in time," he answered with a sigh. "We have reason to suspect that the old house I used may not be safe, whereas in the forest, nothing will come near a werewolf, or Hagrid, when he escorts you in and out."

"What are you going to do?" Ris couldn't help but ask.

"I'll be locked in my office," he answered simply.

"Couldn't I just stay with you?" Ris asked hopelessly, already knowing the answer.

"Too many things could go wrong in that scenario," he answered, shaking his head. "Surely, you already knew that. Rumors, even more excuses to be made, not to mention if either of us was found out the other would easily be linked."

"Yeah," Ris said with a sigh. "That was kind of a last ditch effort question."

"Besides, you'll change before I do," he said in an offhanded manner.

"What?" Ris was taken aback by this statement.

"It's not a very well known fact, but, yes, the longer you are a werewolf the later you change," Professor Lupin answered. "It's not by a large amount, but the difference between you, who has been a werewolf for almost four months, and myself, having a couple decades on you, would be a noticeable difference."

"Why don't people know this?" she asked.

"Well, saying as most of the magical community doesn't really care, no one has observed this fact," he answered simply. "Not to mention that it would dangerous for someone's health to watch a werewolf transform."

"I suppose it would be..." Ris said, trailing off in thought. "Sir, what do...wild packs do about that?"

"Well, I believe that the length of time that you are able is more determined on your willingness to hold back the wolf," Professor Lupin answered. "That is, the longer you are a werewolf, the stronger your ability is to fight it.

"That being the case, the Alphas of wild werewolf packs tend not to want to resist the wolf. So, whereas some of the people in the pack may not want to be there, nonetheless transform, they are left with little choice for their own safety."

"So, is it possible that, if a werewolf lived long enough, that they could fight off the wolf for the whole night?" she could not resist asking.

"Well, it is theoretically possible," he started. "However, as most werewolves have a shorter life span than humans due to our body being reconstructed twice a month, it is doubtful that a werewolf would reach the age that that would become possible. My calculations show that one would have to be well over one hundred years of age."

"Oh," was all that Ris could muster for a response.

"I was rather disappointed when I found that out, too," he said with a small smile. "Do you have any other questions for me?"

"No, sir," Ris answered, shaking her head.

"You'll be fine," Professor Lupin said, hoping to encourage her some. "You're a smart girl, you'll be able to handle everything."

"Thanks, Professor Lupin," said Ris with a half smile.

"I'll be seeing you next week then," he said with a smile. "We were looking over your essay."

"Thank you again," Ris said with a wave as she headed to the door. He returned her wave as she exited the classroom.

She walked slowly back to the common room, wanting some time alone to sort her thoughts. She found herself at the unicorn statue sooner than she would have liked and halfheartily gave the password. She ascended the stairs into the common room and joined her friends in their usual corner.

"Hey, Ris," Shannon called when she saw the girl approaching them. Ris gave a small wave and smile in response.

"What did you have to talk to Lupin about?" Jer asked her as she sat down.

"Oh, we were just going over the essay he assigned," Ris answered. "Wanted to make sure that I understood everything right."

"You have to wonder?" Shannon asked in disbelief. "You're smart, I don't see why you have to ask all these teachers about stuff."

"I just like to double check things," Ris said with a shrug, her checks turning a light shade of pink.

Ris was saved any more pressing questions by the appearance of Kat, who made a typical entrance. She had bounded up behind Shannon's chair and preceded to put her into a semi-headlock from behind.

"'Ello, kiddies!" she greeted them, getting groans and chuckles in response. "It's time for din-din!"

"Already?" Renée asked, surprised.

"Yes, yes, already," Kat answered, sounding annoyed. "C'mon, I'm hungry. A hard day's work of classes tires me out."

"Don't need to tell me twice," Jer said, raising his hands in surrender to Kat's demand.

"I'd be gone already if you weren't pinning me down!" Shannon said, pulling at Kat's arms.

"So pushy," Kat said, shaking her head as she released Shannon.

The group headed down to the Great Hall and joined their table and enjoyed another Hogwarts meal while continuing conversation. Ris found that she was having problems concentrating on their conversations and would only force a smile or laugh whenever it seemed that she should be doing so. She hoped that none of them would notice, but her friends showed to be too good for her own good.

"You okay, Ris?" asked Renée, who was sitting across from her. "You look like you're a million miles away."

Ris took a moment to realize that she had been addressed, and then she found herself searching for what answer she wanted to give.

"Oh – I – Um..." she faltered, trying to think of what to say. She sighed and tried to regain her composure, deciding that now was the time to start her biggest lie yet. "I guess I'm nervous."

"'Bout what?" Shannon asked. "Can't be about school work, we don't have any big test soon, do we?"

"N-no, it's not school work," Ris answered hesitantly. "It's – I – that is...I'm sick, really sick, and I start treatment tonight."

"What?" they chorused together, making some heads turn their way. Ris felt herself flush and waited a few moments before expanding on the situation she had just brought to their attention.

"I have cys-cystic fibrosis," she said slowly, tripping over her words. "It-it's a lung disease. There's no known cure yet, but I v-volunteered to, well, be a guinea pig of sorts, I guess."

"You don't seem sick," Alex said, looking at her questioningly.

"It has its spells," Ris said, trying to remember everything Professor Flitwick had told her about the condition. "I've just been lucky that it's been this good this month. The treatment is supposed to make it so I'm like this all the time."

"What do you have to do for the treatment?" Renée asked.

"I have to go down to the hospital wing once a month," Ris answered. "For a week I just go down and take potions and little 'mini-tests' I guess you could call them. Then, at the end of that week, I have to spend a night in the hospital wing so they can monitor everything and make sure nothing's going wrong."

"How long will you have to do this?" Renée asked, sounding worried.

"Un-until they find a cure," Ris answered.

"You not in any danger by doing this, are you?" Kat asked.

"N-no, they guarantee that...that I'll be...okay," Ris said, trailing off slightly at the absolute irony of her words.

"Nothing better happen to you," Kat said with a curt nod. "Or else there'll be hell to pay."

Ris smiled weakly at the sentiment. "Nothing should happen," she said again to reassure everyone's fears.

The conversation turned to what they could do to the 'Doctors' if anything did go wrong. Ris took a moment to look over at Jer. He was being uncharacteristically quiet and that was a hard thing to miss. She could have sworn that he had been looking at her a moment earlier, but when she looked at him his gaze had shifted to the others. Jer's uncanny ability to do that when something came up that closely addressed her real condition was starting to make her nervous.

Supper soon ended and Ris excused herself from the others to head to the hospital wing. When she reached the door she hesitated a moment and attempted to steel herself. She opened the door and looked around.

"Back here, dear," called a pleasant voice.

Ris traced the voice to be coming from the office in the corner of the room. She closed the door behind and and approached the office.

"Good evening, Miss Klein," Madame Pomfrey said warmly when Ris entered her office.

"Good evening, ma'am," Ris responded with a small nod.

"Professor Snape just dropped off your dose," she said, picking up a large steaming goblet and handed it to Ris.

A look of disgust involuntarily crept across Ris' face and she took the goblet from Madame Pomfrey.

"Come now, dear," Madame Pomfrey encouraged her. "The sooner it's down, the sooner it's done.

Ris flashed Madame Pomfrey her disgusted look before tipping the contents of the goblet into her mouth. It was a wretched and foul-tasting drink. Ris had it for the first time last month, but that did not give her time to grow used to the taste, and she doubted she ever would. She could only manage a few swallows at a time before her body reacted and she had to stop so she could cough before drinking any more. After a few minutes, she finally finished the large goblet and handed it back to Madame Pomfrey, covering her mouth with her other hand as she continued coughing.

"There you are," Madame Pomfrey said with a smile. "Careful that you do not forget a dose, I believe you know the consequences if you do?"

Ris gave a nod in response and added, "Are you sure there's no way to make it taste better?"

"Quite sure, off you go now," Madame Pomfrey said, shooing Ris out of her office.

Ris' week followed the same manner for the week, much the same as her previous month at school, with the added interruption of taking a disgusting potion every night after dinner. A week from when Professor Flitwick told her her cover story, Ris was feeling extremely apprehensive, and extremely tired.

"Are you sure these treatments are supposed to help?" Shannon asked Ris at breakfast that morning.

"Hm? Oh, yes, it'll help," Ris said, somewhat distracted.

"You don't look better," Shannon pressed.

"The – uh – symptoms need to be full fledge in order for them to d-determine if what their doing is...is working," Ris answered weakly.

"If you say so," Shannon said, not sounding convinced. "But I think we should pay these doctors a visit tonight."

"No!" Ris answered a little too quickly. "No, I'm not to have visitors."

"Why not?" Renée asked.

"Might...mess up test results," Ris answered.

"If you say so," Shanon said with a sigh.

"Sorry," Ris said weakly.

Classes that day did not go as well as usual for Ris. She was too tired and too nervous to focus on her work. Professor Lupin gave her a small, though be it equally tired, smile as she left the classroom, but complied to her unspoken wish that she did not want to talk at the moment. She barely ate at supper and excused herself early, with words of encouragement from her friends as she left.

Despite her rush to get out the hall, she did not want to go the hospital wing this early either. She contended herself by sitting next to a statue that was down the hall from the hospital wing. After forcing herself through a chapter of her book, she realized that distracting herself from the wolf was futile. She could feel the wolf rousing, it was still a very unusual sensation to have two consciouses fighting for control of her mind and now it was coming to its peak.

Ris checked her watch and saw that supper would soon be over and thought it best that she not be in the hallway when that happened. She entered the hospital wing to find Madame Pomfrey bustling about her store cupboards.

"Oh, you're a little earlier than I expected, dear," she said when she heard Ris enter the room. "We can't leave until everyone's out of the Great Hall; want to minimize the chances of anyone seeing you. You can go ahead and go into my office and take your potion."

Ris did as she was told without a word. The potion, if possible, tasted even fouler than it had all week and she had a very difficult time downing the whole goblet. She could feel that the wolf recognized the potion from last month and was fighting her drinking it. It most likely shared her knowledge that this was the crucial dose; if she missed this one, the potion would not achieve full effectiveness and the wolf would be dominate during the transformation.

After she gagged down the potion, she doubled over in a coughing fit and she wondered if a few minutes was long enough for the potion to take full effect, as she was afraid that she would lose it. Madame Pomfrey showed up at her side and rubbed her back.

"You can fight it, Amaris," she said encouragingly. "The Great Hall should be clear now. Let's get you out to Hagrid's."

Ris straightened and took a deep breath. Madame Pomfrey had gone ahead to make sure the hallway was clear. Ris heard her shooing away some students and vaguely wondered if they were her friends. She soon found that her thoughts could not stray long and it was taking all of her nervous and frightened conscious to fight the anger and wantings of the wolf.

She suddenly found herself outside, Madame Pomfrey leading her with a firm grip on her arm. They were outside a hut and Madame Pomfrey was talking to the large man that had led them across the lake a month ago.

"She's having a violent reaction to the potion tonight," Ris heard Madame Pomfrey telling the giant man. "She never reacted this badly and as far as I know Remus has not either. I'm not sure why..."

"It's angry," Ris managed to say.

Both of the adult stared at her. Their looks showed that they perfectly understood what she meant.

"You better get her out there quickly," Madame Pomfrey told Hagrid. "Who knows when she'll transform now."

"Righ'," the giant man replied in a gruff voice.

Ris suddenly felt her feet leave the ground and gave a squeak of surprise.

"Sorry," Hagrid said in response to her surprise, "but it's the best way t' get ya out there quick enough."

Ris grabbed a handful of the man's moleskin coat and he carried her into the woods at a run. She was inwardly grateful that the Ravenclaw common room did not have a good view of Hagrid's hut.

"Dumbledore's got ev'rything se' up fer ya," he told her as they traveled deeper into the forest. "Nice long chain, magically reinforced, too, and the end's enchanted t' fit comfortably around whatever it's around."

Ris was certain that the man thought that talking to her may be helping her, but she did not find his topic particularly comforting.

They reached their destination and Hagrid set her down gently by a tree. She leaned her back against it and hugged her knees, fighting the wolf desperately until Hagrid was gone. She heard him approach her and she automatically exposed her neck. She felt the chain tighten to fit her neck just right. She then waited until she couldn't hear Hagrid's footsteps anymore. She wasn't sure if it was her submission to the wolf or if the wolf had overpowered her, but the pain was horrible just the same.

She screamed as she fell forward so she was standing on all fours. Her body was on fire, every bone breaking and reforming. She could hear and feel her robes tear around her as she transformed. Her scream of pain gradually turned into a feral howl of freedom.

Just as soon as the pain came, it was gone. She opened her eyes and, as if for the first time, she realized she was in a forest. A _large_ forest. Excitement filled her and she needed to run, run like all wolves should be able to do, run as she had been denied thus far. She bounded forward, and then was pulled backwards by her neck. She looked behind her and remembered the chain and started to bite at it.

Then she realized that she was aware of what she was doing. _Ris_ knew what she was doing. She immediately stopped chewing on the chain and trotted back and forth several times in an attempt to burn the wolf's excitement.

She eventually laid down at the base of the tree and attempted to fall asleep. The wolf was very annoyed that not only was it chained to this tree so it could not roam the forest like it was meant to do, but its consciousness was being shared; it wasn't in control.

After a few hours of Ris trotting around the tree – the wolf forcing her to run to the end length of the chain several times – it finally submitted to defeat and Ris was finally able to curl up and rest.

Her ear perked at the sound of a bird chirping and she awoke with a start. If birds were singing, then the sun would soon rise. Sure enough, the clouds were tinged pink by the sun getting ready to begin its ascent. She mentally prepared herself for changing back into her preferred form. As the peeked over the horizon her body was once again set on fire. An anguished howl escaped her which trailed off after it became human again and she collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

Ris was suddenly aware that she was still wearing all of her clothes when she transformed, consequently, leaving her without clothes now. Blushing furiously, she scrambled to get next to the tree and cover herself as best she could. She heard a crunch of leaves and was about to call out a warning to her current state, but she then realised that she had suddenly become clothed. She gasped and looked around to see who had come to get her.

Professor Dumbledore was standing several feet away, a hand gracefully covering his eyes while the other was pointing his wand at her. He chuckled and said, "I assume you are decent now, Miss Klein."

"Er – y-yes, sir," Ris stammered, still beet red.

"You must forgive us for not thinking that you would have difficulties with your potion," Professor Dumbledore apologized, lowering his hand and giving her his twinkling smile. "I must admit that I'm not certain that the potion has gotten the chance to be used by new werewolves."

"It's alright, sir," Ris muttered.

"But, it appeared as though you eventually got things under control?" he asked her.

"I did," she answered at once. "It was weird. At first it seemed like the wolf was in control, but then a realized that I was aware, that I didn't black out like before."

"That is most excellent," the Professor said with a nod. "Though I do feel that slightly different arrangements may be necessary on the night of the full moon."

"That could be a good idea," Ris said sheepishly.

"I thought so," Professor Dumbledore said with a smile. "Your new arrangements will hopefully be settled shortly, and we will inform you of them as soon as possible."

"Thank you, sir."

"Hopefully your ability to fight the wolf during your last dose of potion will become more refined as time goes on," he added to help give her some hope.

"Hopefully," Ris echoed.

"Let's get you to the castle," he said, flicking his wand. The chain around her neck fell to the ground. "I really do regret that this is a necessary precaution."

"I was thankful for it last night," Ris assured him. "If I wasn't chained there I'm not sure how well I could have fought the wolf."

"I'm glad that it is needed then," he said with a small nod. "I was afraid you would resent me for it."

"Not at all, sir," Ris said quickly.

"Very good. We must be getting back to the school."

Ris then made to get up, but was soon reminded that she was quite sore as soon as she moved. She winced in pain and she forced her muscles to respond and they fought with fire. Professor Dumbledore moved forward and placed an arm across her back to help support her. Ris was certain it could not be very comfortable for him to do that as he was halfway bent over so he could reach her, but she was grateful for the extra support. They made their way slowly back to Hogwarts, the journey not helping Ris feel any better at all. They eventually made it to the hospital wing, where Ris graciously sat on one of the beds.

"I think it would be alright for you to miss your classes today, Miss Klein," Professor Dumbledore told her with a smile. "You may join your friends whenever you feel up to it, if they don't come here first."

"Thank you, sir," Ris said with a weak smile as she attempted to get into a comfortable position on the bed. Ris eventually found a comfort and was soon fast asleep.


End file.
